Will the Leader of the Opposition tell us what is happening?

Without going into the details of those gory and tragic incidents let me assure you that I not only most sincerely empathise, but also can relate to that through my family's own tragedy, though of a lesser magnitude compared to that of yours.

I too lost one of my illustrious brothers in no less a person than Shaheed Munier Chowdhury. Your illustrious father and my brother suffered jail at the same time during the Language Movement of 1952. As security prisoners they were in two adjoining cells in the jail.

My brother and I, braving the scorching rays of the sun, were there to listen to that immortal speech delivered by your father at the historic Suhrawardy Uddayan on March 7, 1971. The euphoria, the aroma, the spirit of those days, still lingers on, not just in my mind, but in the hearts of millions even to this day. When I say aroma I mean the sacred and undying spirit of it all, surpassing the related tragedies and the horrors. But you must appreciate the fact that as much as history and legacy is of vital significance, for a nation one also has to look forward and live in the cruel and real world of today. Such is the way of life.

No one needs to tell you that the country is passing through terrible times. The Ruling coalition's list of failures is endless. But that is not what I would like to raise with you today. What I would like to do, if I may, is to humbly point out my perceptions of Awami League combating the various issues of the government's litany of failure.

In most instances, you and your party's focus have been heavily loaded with your party interests rather than issues of the people's interests and concerns. Take, for instance, the continued spate of bombings and terrorist acts. It is my observation that you and your party went about dealing with it in a wrong way, reflecting mostly individual and party concerns, rather than expressing concern for and on behalf of the entire nation, which the mainstream political opposition was expected o do.

Every time a bomb blast takes place you immediately declare that it has been the act of the ruling coalition. The nationwide August 17 bombings were also treated the same way. This judgmental statement has been repeated so many times that it has lost all its appeal to the public at large. I have often wondered as to what happened to the people of this country that they failed to rise spontaneously in protest nationwide when such tragedies took place with the deaths of SAMS Kibria and Ivy Rahman? Why did the Awami League fail to ignite or spark off a people's movement? I do not have the answer -- but maybe you have! At best I can tell you of my assessment of the situation. Over the years, people's trust in our political parties has continually been on the decline, and Awami League is no exception.

Your party's relentless pursuit to unseat the government appears to be politically unsound and is reflective of a mindset, which to my mind does not fall under the purview of my understanding of democracy and democratic traditions.

One could also say the same thing about your stance on the hartal issue. It is not only anti-people, but also harming the economy of the country at a time when it is most vulnerable. Surely you cannot call hartal an instrument of political protest, particularly in a democracy. You cannot call any process a democratic one, which interferes and take away the rights of others. Already we are burdened by the two-day holidays recently declared by the present regime. Any additional enforced closures of our economic activities and other essential services will further weaken the existing vulnerability of our economy. The only outcome of Hartal as I have observed is the destruction of private and public property giving rise to all sorts of vandalism and violence on the streets. The Hartal culture is also having a negative impact on the already poor state of our work-culture.

I keep wondering about this business of your "frequent" visits abroad. I am happy that your recent visit to India was treated almost at the level of a state visit by the Indian authorities, as reflected by the audience you had with as many dignitaries, including no less than the Prime Minister himself. I was wondering as to what really prompted you to make the visit at this time. There is a pattern in all major visits, which you have undertaken abroad i.e. the visits invariably seem to coincide whenever the country is in an unusual state of vulnerability both economically and otherwise. On the other hand I now seem to recall your last visit to the US. There is always something amiss between your declared agenda and what finally emerges or surfaces. Your trip to the US on medical grounds ultimately turned out to be an extended visit to meet your grandchild and extensive political lobbying of all kinds stretching over a period of three weeks or more. Trust me, lately people have begun to ponder on such issues!

You and your party's lawmakers, including yourself, have been absenting from attending parliament God alone knows since when. Whatever be the reasons, I do understand that some of the reasons are genuine, boycotting of the parliament cannot be good for either you or the development of the institution of democracy in the country. If the parliament is rendered ineffective today you too are also to blame alongside the ruling coalition.

Of late I have been feeling rather uncomfortable with the way you have been using human tragedies, both personal and otherwise, to meet your political goals. On occasions I have felt that these actions are deliberate and carefully planned. To me it looks as though you have picked up the idea from the way the US administration uses the 9/11 incidents to meet its political agenda.

I strongly believe that some day again you and your party will be in the seat of power. Hence do not create any legacy, which in the course of time becomes too hot to handle by you and leaves permanent scars on the face of this nation. I mean damaging the ethical and moral fibre of this nation which are already at their lowest rung.

On the other hand, you see we, the people, had a bad bargain in this country since decades, right from the pre-independence days. We have always been sidelined. None of the political parties big or small told us of the actual happenings whether in power or out of power, they seem to always thrive on some hidden agenda.

While drawing the curtain on this brief message, let me say that I have said what I had to say. It is now up to you to reflect or ponder upon the observations or simply ignore or reject them.

The author is a freelance contributor to The Daily Star.