The concerned people who were convinced that things were not going well in the country due to a plethora of political malaise -- the prominent one being the chronic disunity among the political forces -- were profoundly disappointed. A wet blanket was thrown over their hopes by Madam Zia, who also embarrassed the organisers. The nation was deprived of the healing touch it so badly needed, which could have been produced and a fresh beginning made with the two leaders burying their hatchet at long last.

In the meantime, the much-vaunted AL set up has not come up to the public's expectations and its performance has been dampening at the best. Amid continuing gloom the country has indeed dipped to a new low almost on all fronts. The widespread graft stories that we are introduced to by media outlets are good enough pointers to its depth and dimension, and few have anything more to add to them.

The prime minister's speech on poverty alleviation is also a grim pointer to its existence in the society when she confesses that poverty alleviation is a far cry unless corruption is eradicated from the country. We cannot agree more with this home truth. One, however, wonders as to what is stopping the prime minister from eradicating the menace!

But its not just corruption, there are also the accompanying concomitant vices like extortion, grabbing and forceful occupation. Managing tenders of the lucrative contracts has been a fast growing culture among the opportunistic elements of the power-wielding political parties and their front organisations. Raw violence is their weapon, which is lethal enough to keep their political masters at bay. It's fast becoming akin to a jungle and its rules.

The list of festering fronts is long. Does one with his or her eyes and ears open really need it? They would find many strange developments unfolding before them. It all began with the still unresolved tragedy of Pilkhana, which was followed in quick succession in the form of devastating fire in Bashundhara Shopping Mall, and now in the smouldering fire in the NCTB godown. A tense situation is obtaining in the country as extra-judicial killings continue.

The power wielders may be right in claiming that there was a conspiracy behind all these events. But the intriguing thing is that such crimes routinely take place when a credible government is in place. The seismic event of Pilkhana shook the whole nation except the government itself, which did not make serious effort to close ranks with other political forces. As a result, blunder after blunder is piling up to snowball into a real crisis.

Divided, corrupt and incompetent, we are like a rider without hands on the rein and feet on the stirrup and the horse is in a mood to gallop. Competence and superior political performance are only way to keep the horse in canter as long as possible.

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