Bangabandhu, one of the greatest sons of Bengal, must be wondering from heaven what is happening to his dream of building Sonar Bangla, based on human dignity, democracy and secularism. We admired him, trusted and respected him for two very worthy reasons. First, he gave us a country of our own after thousand years to be developed and governed by people of the soil. Second, a country, which was created, based on secular principles.

Many of us are completely shattered, devastated with the news of the agreement signed with some fundamentalist groups by the Awami League. I am no blind supporter of the Awami League. Only League or Party I care about is the individuals who truly care for Bengali culture, Bengali heritage, Bengali literature...its soil, its rivers and people. I just find it impossible to believe Bangabandhu's own party can get into such an ugly act to destroy the basic principle of Bangladesh and Bangabandhu. It will suffice to say with this act the Awami League has destroyed not only its image and prospect in the forthcoming election but also the hope and aspiration of many generations to come. The only winners are the fundamentalists.

Once a wise Englishman told me in 1974 while traveling together to Mymensingh, "You guys always blame poor Mujib for all your misfortune, but how many guys in his cabinet will advise him to do the right things which will benefit the country only and not serve their personal interests." The statement is still valid after 31 years of his death; Top leaders are still surrounded by the same sycophants and ill motivated selfish people devoid of any noble purpose or ideal.

Ronald Reagan used to take far too many short vacations to his presidential retreat. Once newsmen asked him, " How can you afford to go on vacation so frequently when you are the Chief Executive of the most powerful country?" He responded, "I have surrounded myself with the best talents I can find in America in various fields, I give them freedom and responsibility to deliver results and I relax." Do the best talents available in Bangladesh surround our prime leaders in political, industrial and commercial world?

Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharjee did so much hard work in the recent months and suffered so much hardship and challenges to create public awareness about all the great principles of democracy, good governance and human values; now all are in drain for one single act of the Awami League. The biggest question in voters' minds will be: "Can we trust a party which can so easily abandon its fundamental principle for which it stood for over 50 years?"

This land has produced three Nobel laureates out of the total seven in the whole sub-continent. I am hopeful individually many more Bengalees will earn global respect for their contribution to mankind, regardless of how badly the politicians lead us to misery and suffering.