This time, the target was Sheikh Hasina, the leader of the opposition and the daughter of the father of the nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. It was in the month of August that her father was brutally killed. It is again in the month of August that she escaped death by a few seconds. The month of August thus turns out to be a month of shock and shame for the whole nation.

The series of grenade attacks, reportedly, left at least 20 people killed and a few hundred seriously wounded. We are told that top AL leaders like Abdur Razzaque, Amir Hossain Amu, and Suranjit Sengupta are fighting for a comeback to normal life. A number of women activists were also killed. Begum Ivy Rahman, the agile and active leader has to see her two legs lost following an operation. As eyewitnesses tell us, grenades fell from the roofs of the adjacent buildings like drops of rains. Apparently, it was close to a "political genocide" of the worst kind in our memory.

Sordidly, we appear to sense a sign of intolerance among the parties in power. The language of weapon has growingly been replacing the weapon of language in recent times. People are being denied their political freedom. Opposition parties are being tortured for expressing their views against the government. Writers are being "sentenced to death" for writing about the rights of the people. Ahmadiyya community is not allowed to perform its religious functions. My daughters always suggest to me that I come home before the sunset, lest I am attacked by goons for expressing my views. But why? Am I not a citizen of an independent and democratic country where rights are reserved in the constitution? Why should the language of weapon rule over my weapon of language? Are we in the midst of a medieval age? Is it the Bangladesh for which we fought and 30 lakh people shed their blood?

The government comprising BNP and Jamat know quite well that Sheikh Hasina and her family members are always insecure. But, unfortunately, they reduced the security forces at her house immediately after they came to power. Begum Khaleda Zia, be it as Prime Minister or opposition leader always lives in the cantonment where security fences are relatively tight. It should have been courteous on the part of the government to see that the leader of the opposition gets the same kind of treatment. Nobody in our country seems to think that one swallow does never make a spring.

Another sad episode to cite. It is quite likely that the followers of AL would come to the streets for agitating against the attacks on their leaders and workers. Had it been the case with BNP, the same would have happened, we suppose. But unfortunately, the cadres or "goons" of the ruling party, allegedly attacked the Jahangirnagar University campus, in Narayanganj and everywhere where peaceful processions paraded the streets. Such an act of vandalism allegedly by the ruling party vanguards seemingly suggests that the government is lenient or indifferent to the happenings of last Saturday. Otherwise, why should they react like this?

Take it or not, Bangladesh is dubbed as a "failed state." In terms of corruption or confrontation, the country sadly secures the first position. Failures tend to fall upon us from all fronts -- economic, political, and social. Initially, the gun was marked at the opposition parties, especially AL, with the hypothesis that false propaganda were marshaled by the opposition to tarnish the image of the government. Pro-government newspapers and editors organised a number of seminars and workshops to establish the "false paradigm." To this effect, a number of eminent intellectuals and politicians were arrested and tortured. Things, however, did not improve with those perceptions. Bomb blasts at different places were termed as acts of the opposition to destabilise the government. In support of this theory, opposition political leaders and workers were arrested and subdued. Things worsened. We shall not be surprised if we hear the hypothesis that it was AL that heralded bomb blasts at its own meeting.

Rumours loom large that, at present in Bangladesh, there is a government within a government. The government is said to be driven by the "devilish" deeds of these forces within. Also looming large is the notion that these forces tend to run the government rather the other way round. Whatever be the hypotheses surrounding the painful positions, the fact remains that Bangladesh seemingly stands as symbol of terrorism where freedom is forfeited, writings invite wrath, and good governance groans under a reign of terror and torture under the umbrella of unknown forces within the parties in power.

We strongly denounce such kind of developments. Bangladesh should be a land loaded with thesis and anti-thesis. I may not agree with you but would fight for your rights to speak until death -- this should be the motto of every government and citizen. Without such an environment, the country might turn into a Taliban state where development is destined for demise, uplift is to face an uproot.

Maybe more will die, but this would generate more heat than cool. We wish the leader of the opposition and her followers a long life. We wish the end of the anarchic politics and governance that Bangladesh is faced with. The sooner it comes, the better it is for both position and opposition.

Abdul Bayes is a Professor of Economics at Jahangirnagar University.