I thought: she must be joking but then I saw that some grey haired senior politicians of the country sitting around the table were listening to her with rapt attention! If the ruling coalition is high-handed and repressive, the opposition happens to be sly, foxy and one that routinely indulges in meaningless demagoguery. I feel that things have now reached beyond all comprehension and tolerance.

It is high time for everyone in the society to work together in driving out all elements of partisan politics from all educational institutions. Let us chase the ghosts of Ayub-Monem regime out once and for all.

Every time trouble brews in the campus a so-called high-powered committee is constituted to enquire into the incident and that is the end of it all. The report of the committee is never made public and everything is thereafter forgotten. The role of the university's administration is also shrouded in mystery. Some time back, following an ugly incident I was extremely annoyed with the Vice Chancellor's remarks when he said that he would resign only when his conscience tells him that he has failed in discharge of his duties.

I believe the incident was sparked off due to a number of our police forces entering the university women's hostel some time around midnight and roughing up a number of inmates inside the hostel. If such an incident did not move the VC's conscience, what will?

Frankly, I find the attitude to be almost parallel to that of our venerable shipping minister vis a vis the deaths of hundreds of innocent lives when a launch capsized resulting into innumerable loss of poor and innocent lives. It is indeed sad that the highest seat of our education today represents chaos and a playground for political vandalism.

Also disturbing is the way the death anniversary of Ziaur Rahman was celebrated some time back. Prime Minster herself went round the various places in the city distributing food and items of clothing to the distressed and the poorer section of the population. This was clearly a move designed to boost support of the city dwellers for the forthcoming elections in favor of the ruling coalition.

Personally, I hold Ziaur Rahman in high esteem and do hate to see his name being used and abused in this way. Besides I am almost certain that had he been alive today he would not have endorsed squandering of state funds for such unproductive purposes.

It may also be relevant to mention here that the venerable Leader of the Opposition during her tenure of office also indulged in similar degrading exercises of using and abusing the name of her father, the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. I felt disgusted to see that innocent city dwellers roughing it out in the sweltering heat of the day due all kinds of traffic jams caused by security measures for the PM through closure of traffic all round.

The other day, through the window of my living room located on the seventh floor of an apartment complex I was watching a telephone linesman apparently fixing some connection. He was engaged in disentangling a bundle of wires, which looked almost like a bird's nest. Suddenly, something told me that I should also check my telephone connection lest it is disconnected in the process.

Sure enough, I raced my wheelchair to my bedroom and found that my telephone was dead. I returned to the window and drew the attention of the linesman and told him that he had disconnected my telephone and that it should be restored forthwith. I also told him that should this not be fixed in the coming ten minutes or so, I would make sure that he loses his job. God's miracle, it worked and my telephone was restored.

Amidst many hazards and nightmares of living in this country, one is acquiring and maintaining a land telephone connection. Some years back, the chairman of the Telephone Board who happened to be well known to me told me that there are only two key personnel in the T and T, namely the chairman and the linesman.

Incidentally, I have no real connections with people of consequence in the department, and hence my telephone remains inoperative for the past four weeks or so. It must be a very simple problem since I can call out but I cannot receive any, since the bell of my handset does not ring. The linesman has promised to come and fix it at least a dozen times but never appeared. Looks like the linesman is indeed powerful and chooses to visit people with complaints as he so chooses.

The gruesome killings by Rab in the so-called cross fire are continually on the rise. It is now absolutely clear that many of these killings are carried out in rather very questionable and doubtful circumstances, as evidenced by a number of statements made by none other than the State Minster for Home Affairs. The ruling coalition often comes up with the argument that the people are happy with Rab's performance and that it has in effect caused a reduction in high profile criminal acts. The Rab has finally received a further boost for its successes in nabbing and hauling up of JMB terror leaders.

We must remember that extraordinary law enforcing agencies like these have the danger of creating a legacy like that of the Gestapo during Hitler's Third Reich. Of late, as reported in the media, the mighty Rab has also been nominated for this year's Independence Day Award. What a spark of genius on the part of our administration!

While fancy lights keep burning bright in various shopping complexes, people continue to suffer on account of continuous power load shedding day and night, I wish to ask the City Corporation chiefs as to whose benefit these lights continue to burn bright? Why are the shopping complexes allowed to wear a festive look with fancy lightings all around right through the middle of the night at a time when regular blackouts and power load shedding is taking place all over the city? The only purpose it is serving is making a mockery of people's miseries. I also fail to understand as to why shopping complexes have to be open as late as 9 or 10 pm? Nowhere in the civilized world, are shopping complexes other than food and kitchen markets open this late.

Sitting at home and watching the television is also no fun. Of particular annoyance, is the bombardment of commercial advertisements of consumer goods and other products, which are often irrelevant, indecent, and on occasion outright offensive. The jingles and the visual effects followed by dancing and other forms of bodily gestures by both men and women are, to say the least, reflective of poor tastes and contrary to the spirit of our culture and heritage.

One may attribute all these to going trends and breaking of cultural barriers but to me it looks as though a downright degradation in our ethical and moral values. Just consider a glaring example, an advertisement of a particular brand of toothpaste, wherein a man nearly paralyzed and unable to stand up all too suddenly stands up on being urged and then quick change in the scene, a particular brand of toothpaste is displayed covering the entire screen.

I am an arthritic patient and confined to a wheelchair. Sure enough, I am now considering buying that particular brand of toothpaste. Please pray for me! On the other hand the amount of time and the number of insertions between programs works as real deterrent to watching television.

A case in example is the news on Channeli, one time my most favourite news program, I no longer see it. Relentless drumming of ads has literally driven me crazy. I now watch BBC instead and other Indian channels whose newscasts are far superior to any of our channels.

No real political wisdom is required to streamline, straighten and remove such decadent social menace; all that is required is common sense and the existence of a minimum level of concern for the welfare of the people driven by a degree of commitment on the part of our administration. In the meantime I say: enough is enough.

Shamsher Chowdhury is a freelance journalist.