We can say it with some confidence that should Saifur Rahman and Mannan Bhuiyan be in the opposition in the future we will again become their favourites. That is because we will write and expose with the same professionalism and patriotism, as we did earlier and are doing today, any misdeeds of any future government like the ones BNP is committing presently.

Before we address the substance of their "speak" we want to raise the issue of how and why a meeting of a political party -- which has nothing to do with the government or the state -- should be held on official government premises such as the Prodhanmantri Bhaban (Prime Minister's House near the parliament). Can the venerable ministers give any lawful answer? They have broken one of the fundamental tenets of democracy -- that is to keep the party and the government separate. Over the years both BNP and AL have gradually removed all distinctions between where the ruling party ends and the government begins. More and more ruling party functions are seen almost as official events and government facilities are freely used for them. Will somebody tell our BNP leaders how Indira Gandhi's election of 1971 was declared illegal by Allahabad High Court in 1975 because of misuse of official facilities for election purposes.

This blurring of distinction lies at the root of many of the corruption that BNP is plagued with today. As a senior leader and as the party's secretary-general, Saifur Rahman and Mannan Bhuiyan should be aware of it and try to stop it. But instead both these senior leaders are becoming party to it, if not outright encouraging it.

Did it ever occur to our leaders why Clinton, Bush or any US president seeking a second term, do not hold party conventions on the White House lawn? Why Blair had to go to a hotel to address his Labour Party convention?

We can guess what the two BNP leaders may say in reply to this piece -- "This is a minor matter. The Daily Star is saying this only to critisize us. This happens in Bangladesh." You are right. This happens in Bangladesh because both our leading political parties care two hoots for democracy and its norms. But there was a time when this would NOT happen here. We recall the 1973 AL party convention, making Qumruzzaman its president when Bangabandhu relinquished his party presidency and remained only the prime minister, was held on the lawn of its party office. Given the post-independence euphoria and Bangabandhu's personal popularity, the AL convention could have been held in any government building without the slightest of murmur. Yet the party versus government distinction was upheld.

In fact BNP itself gave a shining example of respecting this distinction during its first term. May we remind both the leaders that in 1993 BNP held its 3-day party convention under a tent on the Manik Mia Avenue? Though this newspaper criticised it for blocking a corner of the street yet we praised the BNP for upholding the distinction between the ruling party and the government by not holding its party function on any government premises.

So before pointing finger at the media for spoiling the country's image please look yourselves in the mirror and think how your party has changed. Is it the party that late President Ziaur Rahman founded? Is it the party that Khaleda Zia revived after she took over the leadership? Is it the party that came to power in 1991? Compare them all with the party of today and ask (if you can) how much image spoiling was done how, when and by whom. The answer is in the mirror and not in the media.

Fifteen out of 17 BNP district leaders who were allowed to speak on Saturday complained about price rise. On Sunday 10 out of 16 said the same thing. Yet both Saifur Rahman and Mannan Bhuiyan claimed that it was a media creation. Are the BNP grassroots leaders working for the media? We think the most appropriate comment was from Abul Mansur, organising secretary of Brahmanbaria unit of the BNP, who said: "Some responsible ministers including the commerce minister are saying many good words, but we cannot feed the people with those words." Ashraful Huq Bulbul, president of Saidpur unit of the BNP, said he had come for such a discussion a year ago with a lot of enthusiasm. But today he noticed an all round depression among themselves. "What has happened in a year?" he asked. A very good question that should worry party leaders especially the two ministers. Please listen to your own lower level leaders and refrain from blaming others for your failures. As you can verify from what they are saying, media is only reflecting the reality and not inventing it.

In many ways Saifur Rahman and Mannan Bhiuyan are among the BNP's best faces. Once the finance minister enjoyed tremendous respect as perhaps the only politician who could rise above party politics and call a spade a spade. Today's finance minister is a pale comparison of his former self, to put it extremely kindly. Mannan Bhuiyan, once the most sober voice inside the party, sounds increasingly shrill and myopic. Yet they are among the senior most leaders and both the party and the nation expect a lot from them. When people like them go for a frenzied, incoherent and unfounded attack on the independent media then we really have to worry about the future of democracy in the country. When the Prime Minister herself in her address to the nation admitted steep rise in prices, these two ministers said that the entire hullabaloo is the creation of the media. How pathetic! Mannan Bhiuyan as a politician of the progressive origin has spent a lifetime with the ordinary people before becoming a minister. How can he be so cut off from the grassroots and not be aware of how dear the daily essentials have become.

There are two dangerous aspects of their media bashing. One, that they are making the media a scapegoat and are not likely to take any steps to control the prices since these are only 'figment' of media's imagination. Secondly, their inability to face reality and the resulting rising possibility of hiding behind media bashing for what is essentially their failure to govern. Both these tendencies are serious shortcomings for democracy and development. One blocks imagination and the other prevents capacity for action. So what is left? Only rhetorics and we know we have a oversupply of it.