The comparison is made stark by the very apparent dissimilarity of the actions following the bombings, on both counts, the political as well as the performance of our investigation and intelligence agencies. We have what we have, in terms of the capabilities of our multifarious agencies entrusted to provide advance information of such eventualities, and their performance and capabilities have to do as much with the resources as with the proper handling of the agencies. While one should not expect a quantum leap in the output of the intelligence agencies overnight, the common perception about the political parties is that they might have done better than what we have seen of them thus far in addressing the situation.

Forgive me, but it appears that neither of the two major political parties seems to have comprehended the strategic, political, and economic significance or the long-term ramification of the August 17 bombings. Had it been the case we would have been spared the sorry spectacle of the mutual blame game that commenced very soon after the first hour of the bombings and which continues till today. The doomsayers are not very wrong when they point out that the whole episode has the potential of impinging on the security and national interest of the country. This is what makes the political blame-game between the political parties even more regrettable. To see the two major parties trying to make political capital out of the matter, when our very security is at stake, reflects poorly on the political sagacity, statesmanship, and strategic vision of the political leaders. We only make a laughing stock of ourselves when all sorts of ludicrous motives are bandied about to justify the blame that one party puts on the other for the act; this is as much damaging to our image abroad as the terrorist acts.

While one can be pretty well certain now as to who are behind the bombings -- at least preliminary analysis of the events and initial interrogation of the arrested suspects points to the JMB -- one is not clear as to why the group carried out the nation-wide bombings. That is what should occupy the minds and the energy of the government and the opposition more than anything else.

If the aim of the bombings was to make Bangladesh an Islamic state then there are several political parties in Bangladesh with the same very agenda that are active in vending their ideology to the people. What has convinced the JMB that they would be anymore successful in garnering people's support for their political agenda through a very crude and impolitic means than the Jamat-e-Islami, or parties of the same ilk have been through their open platform politics? Therefore, one cannot but have serious reservations about the strategic objective of the JMB.

Then why the bombings? This is what should get us thinking even more. This is what the investigations must get to.

But as for now, what the JMB has been successful in doing is put our country in the most disadvantageous position strategically. It would be iniquitous not to weigh our losses alongside the possible gains of the perpetrators. Therefore, all manners of partisan perception must be eschewed in order to get to the mastermind, as well as to devise ways and means to offset the damage.

Insofar as the strategic milieu and our security is concerned, it would do well for our policy planners as well as the opposition to take note of the reactions of the media and the political viewpoints that emerged from our big neighbour soon after the blasts. These will have to be viewed in a holistic manner rather than exclusively against the backdrop of the August 17 bombings.

The Indian establishment sees the recent bombings in Bangladesh as a threat to their own security. The Chief Minister of the Indian state of West Bengal has go so far as to articulate his fears to the media in this respect.

Such fears have arisen perhaps because the bombings, along with the pronouncements of the JMB in the leaflets that were found at the bombing sites, according to the Indian analysis, would generate a rush of migration of the minorities that might saturate the eastern and north-eastern states of India. It must be recorded though that so far there are no indications that there has been any migration out of Bangladesh following the August 17 bombings, nor is there likely to be so in the future.

There is yet another anxiety that stalks the mind of the Indian intelligence agencies, which is that the perpetrators, who have exposed their radical disposition, would exfiltrate out of Bangladesh and into Indian territory, to escape the hands of law. These radicals might provide a fillip to the latent Islamic radicals to come to the fore and make West Bengal, according to one commentator, the Kashmir of the east.

All these must be seen in the context of the developments in the troubled areas of the India's east and north-east. The fears of 'Brihottor Bangladesh' or an Islamised periphery that is not only psychologically but also physically distanced from India's core, are all recipes for countermeasures that may prove to be precipitative for Bangladesh. This is what must be addressed in earnest.

No one, least of all the government, can hide behind the excuse of a foreign hand in this episode. If there is a foreign hand behind the bombings, that it could utilise a radical Islamic group within the country to act to its dictates, can neither be a solace nor succor to anyone. What must concern the people at the helm of affairs most is that there is a non-state actor, which can wield its coercive capabilities in propagating its views, with or without foreign support.

It is as much a mistake to assume that the target was a particular party or the government as to think the bombing was designed to reap political benefits by the ruling alliance. The target was the state. The sooner the political parties reconcile to this truth, the more quickly would we move towards ensuring the security of the state.

Please stop hurling accusations at each other and get down to brass tacks. That is what the nation expects of our political leadership.

The author is Editor, Defence and Strategic Affairs, The Daily Star.