The BNP has done enough misrule in the last five years and all of these BNP leaders are now very rich. The money they have looted from the people of Bangladesh is just too much and unprecedented in any civilised society. So it is not surprising to see Bangladesh as the most corrupt nation in the world. The sad part is nobody in Bangladesh cares for this disgrace seal from the world body.

Start a movement to bring the honest people to form a government for the people, by the people and of the people. We have seen enough suffering and it is now time to wake up and stand against these corrupt politicians. This is your chance.

Tell these politicians that enough is enough because Bangladesh belongs to all of us and not only to these corrupt politicians. We have many educated people and scholars who can really work for the country and make Bangladesh a real Golden Bangladesh.

At long last a ray of light has flashed with the postponement of elections in Bangladesh, reeling under the state of emergency, scheduled for 22 January. In deciding to step down as the caretaker government chief and postponing the elections planned for later this month, President Iajuddin Ahmed had no other option. Unlike the US neo-conservatives the rulers in Dhaka cannot afford to risk being stubborn when the country's economy is in very bad shape and the opposition has managed to get international support for its movement. Moreover, the final nail was the decision by the UN and the EU to pull out their election observers, though they refuse to do the same in Somalia where the US forces are engaged in genocide and destruction. Postponement of elections, however, is the beginning of the course of action to resolve the crisis. There has to be concern as to whether the Awami League and the BNP will respect the state of emergency. The former, having tasted success, may try to press home the success it won in forcing the postponement and the interim government's resignation. The latter could be defensive. Since the chief concern of the politicians surrounds their own advancements rather than of the people, egoism may dictate the future actions of the government and opposition. Both will feel constrained by the limitations of the state of emergency, which has curtailed freedom of movement and speech, including the right to criticise the government. It is a knife-edge situation. If one party decides to take matters into its own hands, the other will do the same.

One does not know if Dr Yunus, the recipient of this year's Nobel Peace Prize and has the potential for creative action could come forward to help resolve the crisis.
Dr. Abdul Ruff, JNU, New Delhi

President Dr. Iajuddin Ahmed has declared the state of emergency. We have no comment on whether it is good or bad. Let's wait and see. But we are eager to know what is actually happening. We need to know!

But we cannot because we are getting news from no source. Only state-run BTV is the source now, and we all know the extent of the reliability of this source. People are in a suffocating situation as they have no way to know what is happening and it is creating doubt and fear in their minds.

We hope that the authorities concerned will soon realise our predicament.
Md. Firoj Alam, West Dhanmondi, Dhaka

The political impasse can be resolved only through negotiation between the two major parties. It's our national problem. TV channels on December 2 and newspapers on December 3 broadcast and published the NDI report which said there are 1.22 crore fake names in the voter list. This has created a great controversy.

Please remember we are passing through a crisis. The major political parties should bear the responsibility of resolving it. We want a peaceful life. Our request to the AL and the BNP: please don't practice politics in the present form, try to reach some sort of understanding on important national matters.
Dr. Waliul Islam, Uttara, Dhaka

As a citizen of Bangladesh, I feel that President Iajuddin Ahmed and the new caretaker government should first go for drastic action against corrupt officials and godfathers and take account of all the financial bungling that has taken place in the last few years. I am sure the common citizens of Bangladesh will not mind even if it takes one year to clean the house of major corruption and then hold the general election in January 2008. If necessary a national referendum should be held to legalise the stay of the caretaker government for a year.

As for voters' ID card, let the Election Commission and its field staff delivers application forms at our residence and collect the same after a week along with two stamp size photographs of applicants for making ID card and keeping an official record. Upon receiving the duly filled-in application form and proper verification, the representative of the Election Commission can issue the ID card with a serial number on the spot. We will get the ID card laminated at our cost.

The government need not spend much money on this project. Let the much talked about voter's ID card have a humble beginning.
Ziauddin Ahmed, On e-mail

Stubborn politicians are to be blamed for the emergency, I got calls from my friends who run medium size business that it was inevitable and they were praying for this. The financial loss the country has sustained in the past months will take years to recover. My nephew's exam started a month ago and couldn't see a successful ending, I have got a much stressed SMS today. These are only two examples.

Unilateral withdrawal of UN or EU observers is not the solution, the solution was to force all the political parties (since they do not understand what dialogue means or they do not want to show respect to dialogue) to change their attitude and salvage the constitution and democracy.
Tazim, Manama, Bahrain

It is very unfortunate to witness the turn of events right now in Bangladesh. While such a precarious situation might call for drastic measures such as the declared emergency, it was unwise of the government to ask the media not to publish any news 'against the government'. This is again another extremely unfortunate event--as it is quintessential for the nation in this crisis to be aware of the changing scenarios and be able to freely express their opinions. You are right in saying we take pride in our free press - simply so because the Fourth Estate is one of the very few institutions left in Bangladesh, practicing and promoting democracy. The imposition on the media is not the way forward.
Safwan B Shabab, Colgate University, United States