We are today living under extremely stressful conditions. Ramadan is knocking at the door. The recent floods, followed by the heavy untimely monsoon-like downpour, have caused unprecedented miseries to the people all over the country. The shock of the August 21 event is still occupying the minds of the people from which they are yet to recover.

In the name of bringing discipline in the traffic movement on the streets of the capital much chaos and confusion continue to prevail.

The spiraling prices of essentials are already gagging the lives of the near vanishing middle class and people in the fixed income groups. The honourable minister for finance keeps harping on the need for aggressive revenue collection through enhanced collection of taxes. How can he do so at a time when the people are living in extreme fear and uncertainty?

All this government specialises in is producing excuses. The people are yet to see the commissioning of an Independent Human Rights Commission? What happened to the issue of separating the Judiciary from the Executive? What happened to the appointment of the Ombudsman? What happened to creation of the independent commission on anti-corruption? Every now and then the honourable minister for law comes up with some excuse or the other which is not only unfounded but also extremely illogical and baseless.

The municipal and public services are on the verge of total collapse. The summer is ending and yet there is regular load shedding. Access to regular water supply is slowly and surely reaching a critical stage even in the capital. The ugly sights of ever rising new high-rise buildings on occupied lands, particularly those through filling of many essential water bodies in and around the city, continue to create havoc on the environment. Look at the state of the Gulshan Lake, whatever is left of it. I happen to pass by that way every other day and almost each time I shut my eyes and avoid looking at the lake. It is disgusting and painful.

The footpaths all around the city with the exception of a few continue to be occupied by all kinds of vendors from tea to clothes sellers to shoe shine boys. Some even serve as housing for the floating population. Surely the DMC does not consider this a part of its beautification programme for the capital?

To top it all we now have a number of special agencies of the police to deal with the rising incidences of terrorism. The Panther, The Rab, is there a Cheetah too? If we need so many extra forces then why have a regular police force? Why not dismantle it? To my mind there are only two things these agencies are good at, shooting "criminals" on sight and acting as a fear factor in the minds of the general members of the public. Every time one of the agencies kills one criminal, it in effect ends up terrorising hundreds of peace loving innocent citizens of the country. People who are acquainted with the history of the Second World War must have heard of Gestapo, the fearful police faction under Hitler's Germany. Are we seeing the return of the ghosts of Gestapo?

Even the people of Pakistan are not subjected to such harassments at the hands of their police and its various specialised agencies despite the fact that terrorism in its worst form is a regular feature in that country. As much as one hears of wanton killings right inside mosques and frequent assassination attempts on the life of its president, you do not hear of any custodial deaths or such extended form of violation of human rights as exists in Bangladesh. Sad to say, and unbelievable though it may be, the people of Pakistan today enjoy comparatively more social, economic, and political freedom than those of Bangladesh.