Take any front of the governance, it has been a miserable sight! The country by now is not left even with a semblance of traditionally understood law and order -- let alone the question of a stable internal order hinged to which are the country's security and development. When the underworld dons and marked outlaws rule the roost often with official patronage or indifference it is another face of anarchy which is what prevails today in the society wreaking havoc among the citizenry.

One is fortunate if he is spared of the scourge but he is likely to be entangled in one or other of the numerous traps laid in layers: the cheating, kidnapping for ransom, extortion and so on if he is not, in the meantime, mortally disposed off. The alliance government has gifted us a society in last four years. The law enforcing agencies, although multiplied, are of no avail. The crimes also have multiplied by leaps and bounds. The establishment is incapable to fathom the depth of the crisis which is not merely an issue of law and order. The government always willy-nilly overlooked its socio-economic dimension wherein lies the crux of the problem.

The poverty monitoring survey 2004 conducted by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics reveals that the income differential between the poorest 10 per cent of the population and the richest 10 per cent has increased to 24.5 times by last year. Dhaka's streets are now swamped with flashy cars that include even Porsches as well as Cadilac escalades and, of course, the swarm of destitutes. Is a society of such a great disparity workable? Few can deny its connection with the rising tide of crimes.

Another monster created by the alliance government is an unbridled corruption. It is an irony that the alliance promised to wipe out corruption from the country but today it is institutionalised. The country was seldom free of corruption even in the past and for that matter some corruptions are there also in rich advanced countries. But what causes concern in our country is its alarming spread permeating the hitherto unaffected recesses of the polity. No public service in the country is without its price tag and even the hands of the members of the law enforcing agencies are to be greased almost at every step. The corruption stymies the economic life and discourages the potential investors to invest. The precipitation seems inexorable as evident from Bangladesh becoming champion in corruption for several consecutive years during the alliance's rule. Even the donor agencies and countries pointed their finger to this abnormal state of corruption.

The country has suffered a jolt with the rise of militant clerics -- apparently with the government's acquiescence, if not abetment. The preliminary interrogation of those apprehended in connection with 17th August bombing across the country reveals the militants' nexus with Jamaat-e-Islami, a vital component of the alliance government. Imagine the shape of things in the country if the obscurantist clerics bereft of the perception of a modern state craft and a clear world view sit at helm of the country's affairs. The unusual alacrity of the half-baked fanatics has for the first time put the issue of our national security to question. Does the alliance government which is playing with the fire, realise the danger involved in the rise of fundamentalist forces who opposed the independence of the country?

The BNP has obviously given itself to cheap religious politics aimed at garnering electoral gains. Notwithstanding grave danger looming large it appears that the BNP would give priority and primacy to its alliance with the Jamaat. It also gives priority to election engineering and not social engineering which could bring about a balance in the society by reducing the gap between the rich and the poor. Again the ruling alliance couldn't care less. Instead it desperately seeks the elixir of power to prolong its rule.

When the country's teeming millions are gasping with the soaring prices of the essentials the alliance leaders would surely celebrate with their Goebbelian humbug of great progress and prosperity during their tenure. In the meantime public sufferings have seldom been so blatant and naked with no remedial measures in sight. The response of the government if any, has only been cosmetic with the parliament hurrying up to increase the pay and packages only of the ministers, MPs and high officials with the argument that the relief was essential for them in view of the higher cost of living as if the cost did not affect any one else in the country.

Would the public get rid of the prevailing agony -- the net product of the misrule of an apparently incompetent government? There are few signs. Because the political opponents of the alliance have proved to be equally nincompoop not to be able to exploit the most fertile background for a changeover. The opposition can neither take to the street nor wait for a verdict in its favour in an organised constitutional way. The progeny will never forgive either the government or opposition for failing them crucially.

However, a tempest must be in the making in public emotion which will catalyse a metamorphosis in our polity. And any change is usually for the better. If that happens its propriety will remain solely with the people. Neither the government nor the opposition will be able to claim any credit in that.

Brig ( retd) Hafiz is former DG of BIISS.