Our political parties should try to change their attitude in the greater interest of the country.

The country and the people are burdened with countless problems. It will be a long list if one wants to make a log of the problems. A few of these are: uncontrolled corruption in all spheres of our life, governance in the hands of dishonest politicians, sky high prices of all essentials, miserable life due to regular power cuts, hartals leading to destruction of private and public properties, putting the hard currency earning garment industries on fire, ban on manpower export due to malpractice of manpower agencies etc. These are not in order of priority because that may not be same for everybody.

We are really at a loss. How to solve these problems and who will do it? Primarily it is the responsibility of the government that is formed by the politicians.

In the editorial of the Daily Star of 18 Oct. 2006 under the title "Dialogue in limbo", the editor asked the leaders of the two big political parties why they play hide and seek with the nation. Leaving the nation in a state of anxiety the top leaders of the two dialogue partners left the country, one to perform Umrah and the other to visit family members in the heaven (as some say) on earth.

But what is the solution? There are many seminars and talk shows going on more or less every day and also many recommendations are being put forward for solving the problems the country is facing. But we do not see any result. Man creates problems, so laws formulated by man really cannot solve those effectively. Patients have to pay Tk. 40 lakh in bribes in a year for seats at DMCH, passport seekers are to pay Tk 21 crore in bribe every year, bank directors themselves are top loan defaulters, Biman is on the brink of collapse for corruption, touts feast on Eid tickets a few to mention from recent news in The Daily Star only. What laws can solve these problems? No system or law will work unless the people who run the system are honest. The time has come to turn our face to religion because if we believe in the lone Creator of this universe, then His laws should also guide our life. In Singapore one American youth was whipped at his buttock for spraying paint on public cars. Even Mr. Bill Clinton's request could not spare the boy. Here in Bangladesh no actions can be taken for burning and damaging private / public cars on the street.

Our religion "Islam" has prescribed definite punishment for some major offences which if applied shall bring peace to the society.

Engr. Md. Aminul Hoque, Khalishpur, Khulna

I watched on ntv with horror and dismay how a group of activists of one political party beat and killed another activist from a rival party in front of thousands of others! How was this possible in the 21st century? And two others innocent passers-by were crushed under speeding vehicles in the skirmish. And who is going to be held responsible- the President? IGP? Justice Hasan? Khaleda or Hasina?

Why not the lawyers instead of appearing on TV with many different interpretations of the constitution that they wrote do something about these barbaric acts, which are putting the country back!

Manik Lal Saha, Scarborough City Council, Toronto, Canada

I am a simple citizen of a country where the simplest people can do the unthinkable works without any thinking.

I am surprised, shocked, horrified to see such activities of the crazy mob who killed a human being on a street. It was an unbelievable scene. I did not see our liberation war. It was the war against another nation. Many died for a reasonable and very noble cause. But what is this? The man who died was an activist of the Jamaat-e Islam Bangladesh. Many others also died in such political mob beating on Saturday. A person who supports a certain political party can agitate, but can anyone be killed for supporting another party? Is it rational? It is not the matter of AL or Jamaat, it has become the question of our mental health.

I think we are the victims of mass illusion, mass mental disorder.

Parizad Choudhury, Akua, Mymensingh

If the streets and the maidans are captured now for the sake of a favourable caretaker government then who can confirm that in the next general election, which is supposed to be held in a single day throughout the country, thousands of voting-centres will not be captured for winning the elections?

Our politicians need to be a little more farsighted and honest.

An ordinary citizen, On e-mail

When on Saturday President Iajuddin Ahmed informed the political leaders that he was ready to take up the position of the Chief Advisor to the caretaker government, I thought he was joking; or may be it was to pressurize politicians to come to a consensus on the issue. I never thought he really meant what he said, and eventually would proceed to take up this position. But he has disproved my presumption. He has been sworn in as the Chief Advisor.

There are valid reasons why I thought like that. First, as we all know, in June last he returned from Singapore after a major cardiac surgery. He has not been feeling well. Hence, it was only reasonable to think that he lacked the physical fitness to run the country as its de facto prime minister. Moreover, if Justice KM Hasan could be intimidated by the 14-party alliance led by the Awami League, Professor Iajuddin would be no exception, I thought.

But I shall not hasten to argue that he is essentially a BNP man. In 2001, the Awami League nominated Justice Latifur Rahman as the Chief Advisor and Mr. Abu Sayeed as the Chief Election Commissioner, considering them to be their 'own men'. In course of discharging their duties, both of them proved their neutrality and successfully held the election of 2001 in a fair and free way.

In my experience, most people tend to respond to the demand of the chair, even if there are other forces at work. I believe Professor Iajuddin Ahmed will prove himself absolutely neutral in conducting the office of the Chief Advisor and in holding the 2007 general election in a free and fair manner. Our responsibility is to help him in discharging his responsibility by giving him good suggestions and above all giving the freedom to exercise his authority. Any attempt to influence him either by way of undue criticism or biased suggestions should be avoided.

Mahmud Atif Khan, West Razabazar, Dhaka