However, we cannot accept the blame that has been put on the media. The Bangabhaban press release (why was it signed by the assistant press secretary? Was it not important enough? We think there was a major error of judgement in having such a serious issue dealt with by a junior staff) says: "The President's statement ... was not presented correctly in a few media. The President did not say anything about changing the form of government". If indeed we erred then it was a grievous error and we need to apologise both to our readers and to the President for it. But did we? The President's speech was a written one and its text was made available to the press. The Bangabhaban press release does not say anything about how and where we incorrectly represented the President's speech. In fact, in our commentary we reproduced (precisely anticipating a typical bureaucratic response that it was the media's fault) the Bangla text which leaves no scope for any misinterpretation.

The press release says that the President did not say anything about changing the form of government. The question naturally arises then what did he say? The relevant paragraph started with the words " I want to remind everyone..." which assumes that something had already occurred and the President was just reminding us, meaning reiterating a fact. Are we interpreting this sentence correctly? How else can we interpret the sentence " ... the present government has become a Presidential form of government." The truth is a serious misjudgement has occurred by no less a person than one who combines at the moment the powers of both the President and Prime Minister. We in the media have promptly pointed it as our national and democratic duty.

Therefore, with due respect we are forced to reject the blame that has been put on the media.

It is with the same spirit of serving democracy we urge the President to be aware that by indicting the media an attempt is being made to put the blame somewhere other than where it belongs -- to those who mislead him by drafting an extremely controversial speech and using words and terms that were most likely to create confusion. The President needs to investigate this matter and identify the culprits and punish them. This he needs to do for his own sake.

We want to further point out that no mention was made in the Bangabhaban press release about criticising his staff, which he termed as amounting to interfering with the functioning of the State. Did the media also misinterpret this statement? There was no answer to the question we raised as to how a President can term "undesirable" any criticism about a government servant, and how can that, most absurdly, constitute interfering in the functioning of the State? Does the silence mean that the President has accepted our point? If yes, then we expect severe action against those who inserted that paragraph and embarrassed the Head of State and Government in this unfortunate manner.

Honourable President Iajuddin must put his house in order. He must be extremely careful in choosing the best possible team to help him. As is proven by the latest incidence, people who are making drafts of his speeches may not have his best interest in mind and as such he should scrutinise them far more carefully. Given his trusting nature and professorial attitude he may not be used to people who have led him to the recent embarrassment.

We have said so in the past, we say it again, President is our last hope. He represents the highest of the Constitutional post that retains power at the moment. We must do everything to keep him above controversy. But blaming the media is not the method to do so.