At the end of his article he expressed his apprehension about whether the army, which is now backing the caretaker government, will go back to the barracks or take over the civil administration, like in Pakistan. But the chief advisor has said that the army was working under the caretaker government.

The army has spread to the districts, and guides the deputy commissioners in administration. From the point of view of civilization, it looks a little bit odd. Even then, the people of Bangladesh accept it as a welcome move, remembering the serious political turmoil the country witnessed just after the tenure of the previous government ended.

Really, the people now fell relieved, not fully but mostly. The role of the army in this present situation is somewhat different. It is the necessity of the time. The service sectors of the state had turned into dens of the most corrupt people and muscle men.

Look at Rajuk Bhaban, which had turned into hell for the people and heaven for the criminals. This change of the scene at the Bhaban would have been quite impossible had the army not intervened there. Now the Bhaban exposes itself to the people with a different look.

Police stations were hell, and the people had forgotten that help could be obtained from a policeman or a police station, because they belonged to the group of angels of hell, they were not human beings. Actually this has been the situation for many years. Because of some steps taken by this government, and definitely with the active help of the army, the people have stated thinking that they could get help from the police.

Many state owned industries and enterprises suffered a colossal amount of loss, at the cost of the poor taxpayer's money and foreign donations. There was no point nor reason for running these losing concerns, but the ugly intentions and inefficiency of the politicians kept the dacoits and looters in these organizations in the name of so-called democracy.

Here, the intervention of some force which stood beyond politics, and was a symbol of unity of the state, was needed, and the army is doing that very job. Only the honest intentions of the caretaker government would not have been enough to carry out this gigantic task, as the law enforcing agencies were also seriously corrupt. So, army intervention was a necessity of the time.

Now one thing comes to my mind again and again. Some politicians use religion as a means of fulfilling their interests. In the same way, some corrupt people use the theory of democracy to hoodwink the people, and to gain benefits. They hardly, or probably never, tilt towards public welfare. We experience such kind of democracy in almost all the developing countries.

If we look back, we can easily see what degree of development took place during the tenures of the so-called democratic governments, and how much they are actually answerable to the people. The party in power always does what it wants, and never pays attention to the opposition, let alone the people.

As a result, the opposition violently opposes every step of the party in power, to gain their own ends. And the by-products of this movement and actions are violence, hartal, siege, price hike, injury and death, corruption, and downward trend of development works. Even, the private sectors are not allowed to go an inch forward by the government corrupt officials. By dint of nasty politics, everybody remains busy in making their fortunes. The ugly claws of politics engulf the whole state machinery, slowing down or stopping the pace of development. Though the army and democracy cannot be expected to go side by side, situations emerge in developing countries when the uniformed people are welcomed by the people. Many debates take place against it and for it, but sometimes there remains no alternative except army intervention.

Bangladeshis have experienced martial law several times. One general established a kind of democracy which the public accepted. It is also the nature of democracy that when people accept something, whether it is right or wrong, that is democracy and it holds democratic values. Another general followed his path, but the people of Bangladesh did not accept him, and ultimately he had to quit in disgrace and face trial. So, the people of Bangladesh and of Pakistan cannot be equated. In the same way, the Bangladesh army is also much more patriotic than the Pakistan army. Our armymen stand beside the people in any national emergency or natural calamity. They are the proud sons of this soil.

You see how politics has been vitiated. It was beyond the imagination of the citizens of this country that the party chiefs, and the head of the government, could get involved in heinous corruption. The joint effort of the caretaker government and the armed forces has made it possible for the nation to learn about the unbridled corruption of these powerful individuals.

Without army intervention, this corruption would have continued unabated, and the people would have remained in the dark about the leaders who claimed themselves to be patriots who worked for the people of this country.

Now, people will start to see fresh, comparatively honest, talented and efficient people in politics, which had so long been dominated by inefficient and seriously dishonest people and muscle men.

The game played by the Pakistani army differs from that of the Bangladeshi army. The remark of the chief of army staff, Gen. Moeen U Ahmed, goes: "Democracy itself requires a secure environment for it to thrive and spread its roots. Both democracy and security are complementary features of the system now being put in place by correct initiatives."

Definitely, we want a secure democracy which must not be tainted and made insecure by the touch of dishonest, corrupt and inefficient politicians, and our armed forces, working with the government of Dr. Fakruddin Ahmed, will help establish that democracy.

After doing this work successfully, the armed forces will go back to the barracks and salute the democracy of the nation. They are not going to taint the prestige of the nation, which had been liberated at the cost of supreme sacrifice of millions. They are not an entity which will kill democracy and the democratic spirit, like the army did in Pakistan.

Md. Masum Billah works as a specialist in the Post Primary Basic And Continuing Education (Pace) Program at Brac.