But here, in Bangladesh, where the ghosts of Ayub Khan and Yahya Khan seem to have cast a spell on our political leaders, these ladies are still hanging around and are still reckoned with, although what was a whisper yesterday is now very much a voice heard loud and clear, saying that these two ladies are the least wanted in our politics and that the sooner they call it a day the better for them, for their parties, and for the country.

True, it makes sense to many a well meaning man or woman who wants to see Bangladesh on the map of the world, not as country perennially afflicted by poverty, disease, and natural calamities but as a vibrant nation trying to hold its head high and working steadfastly towards being a truly self reliant, democratic and progressive country. One very important factor in favour of the "minus two theory" is that both of these politically superannuated ladies are tainted in one way or the other.

Both have presided over political governments, which earned a bad name at home and abroad for the added dimension and fillip they provided to corruption and criminalization of politics, or politics geared to crime and violence. There is definitely a tinge of corruption and criminal involvement attached to both Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia, as is being borne out by startling revelations made by their business associates and some political big-wigs of their own parties.

How come that when they were in power the ministers and the law makers and their henchmen were steeped in corruption and criminal activities on a scale never seen before, and they as prime minister and party chief had no clue about it? Either they winked at these sordid wrong doings, or they themselves were in the thick of it. Either way, they are culpable.

Both of these ladies had the wonderful opportunity to usher in democratic rule, and a corruption free and people's welfare oriented administration in this country when they came to power following the ignominious down fall of General Ershad, the dictator, in December 1990. But what they gave the nation was sham democracy and crass authoritarian rule. They just drove Ershad out of power and ruled the country like he did, with utter disdain for democracy.

They both reneged on their pre-election pledges of establishing democracy and fighting poverty and corruption. During the fifteen years of so-called democratic rule by the Awami and the Jatiyatabadi rulers, the country drifted deeper into corruption, poverty, crime, and violence, the likes of which had not been seen before. They have literally turned this beautiful country of ours into a land of beggars, criminals, and liars. Yes this is their achievement.

Both Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia have, over the years, demonstrated their penchant for authoritarian rule. They have shown scant respect for the rule of law and democratic norms. Both of them, while in power, had let loose a reign of terror on the political opposition, the civil society, the human rights activists, the media, and all those who differed with and criticized them.

The entire post-Ershad period of our exercise in parliamentary democracy was essentially an extension of the autocratic rule of Ershad, minus the fallen dictator. Seen from this point of view, both Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina are the biggest obstacles to reforms needed in the whole range of the ongoing exercise in politics, starting from the political parties. Their present stance vis-à-vis reforms needed in their political parties will bear this out.

Both the ladies have been around for an unusually long period of time. They are old and aging, with a tarnished image. Almost spent forces, they have virtually nothing to give to this country. In fact, they have never given anything good to this country.

They have done more harm than good to this country and the people, regardless of whether they were in power or in the opposition.

On the contrary, this country has given them more than they could legitimately claim in terms of wealth, name and fame. They had none of these when they made their maiden appearance in politics. The most ungrateful lot, they had better leave politics now to spare the country from going further down the hill.

But will the ship of this country have smooth sailing and reach the shore of democracy and development, which we have been yearning for, once these two ladies have been off-loaded, unless all the rotten political eggs have also been thrown overboard? You have to clean up the whole mess and sanitize the entire political arena. You just cannot afford to punish the Babars and the Mamuns and let off the Tariques and the Falus.

The whole bunch of looters and plunderers and criminals and crooks who had been on board the ship with these two ladies needs to be brought to justice. No one with a shred of incriminating evidence against him should get a reprieve just because he or she is now talking of reforms and singing in praise of the interim government. It is not just minus two but, perhaps, minus over a hundred or so, which ought to be the target for political cleansing. This is going to be a long haul.

Dear countrymen and women, we have a job on hand as a nation. The country is now on a war footing. We are waging a war on the corruption, crime, and incompetence indulged in by our rulers. How we come out of this war will shape our destiny and define us as a nation.

If the perpetrators of wanton loot and plunder of our wealth and property, and the killers of innocent men and women in the name of politics and in the name of Islam, our sacred religion of peace and harmony, are not brought to justice now, our progeny will curse us and condemn us to the dust bin of history for having failed the nation when it was our duty to rise to the occasion and punish the rogues who masqueraded as our leaders only to rob the nation of its wealth.

This government and the armed forces alone cannot fight this war. The entire nation has to come forward to strengthen the hands of this government. Our learned judges, the lawyers community, the police, the anti-corruption agencies, the media, the intelligentsia, and the civil society, have a special role to play in this war. We all have to rise above our party affiliations and regard the offender of law as an offender, no matter who the offender is.

Nothing is more important than the interest of this country and the wellbeing of the people. No single individual is indispensable for the country. Individuals will come and go. What is indispensable, and what must sustain us as a nation, is our resolve as individuals and as a nation to stand our ground and fight to establish truth and justice in our social and national life.

We all must learn to subordinate our individual interest and group interest to the interest of the country. Let us strive to establish genuine democracy in this country. And genuine democracy means the rule of law.

Let us not demean ourselves by declaring that nobody is above the law and decrying, at the same time and in the same breath, the arrest of an offender of law just because the offender happens to be a person of very high political and social standing.

Let all of us unite on one issue: we shall not allow this land of ours, which has been hallowed by the martyrs' blood, to be a haven for those political thugs and criminals who have looted and plundered our wealth and stained their hands with the blood of innocent men and women in the name of politics and religion.

Brig Gen Shamsuddin Ahmed is a former Military Secretary to the President of Bangladesh.