Your commentary
Nayeem Jafar, New Jersey
I have mixed feelings about your 17 July commentary ("This is no way to strengthen democracy"). I readily agree with your assertion that our military, the 'knights in shining armour' as they would prefer to be seen, is not a magic potion for the country's mess. But your argument that Sheikh Hasina's arrest, or the probable arrest of Khaleda Zia in the near future, is a threat to democracy is rather infuriating. Equating freedom to plunder and go unchallenged with democratic tenets is not acceptable. Period. There is no dispute that legal proceedings against Hasina for her alleged misdeeds could have proceeded without her being arrested or interned, but I do wonder whether the caretaker government had any option left. By extension of your logic, all those who have so far been arrested, for the inglorious, ingenious and blatant way they have looted the country, should be set free pronto for the sake of democracy! Let our leaders, if they are leaders at all, come out clean of the accusations and we will then see if they deserved to be voted back to power. Indeed, it is most likely that we will do so; as a nation we seem to have developed a knack for electing people with dubious distinctions! Meanwhile, I would request you to be a little circumspect. Your observations could be misconstrued by the forces out to create chaos.
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