It has been a year since the fateful day when the state of emergency has been declared in Bangladesh. So far, the caretaker government has been able to keep its promises of making the necessary preparation to hold the national elections on time.
   It has also cracked down on corruption; some find the crack down too excessive, and so, they have reduced all sorts of business activities that earned them extra money. The government had to face two very severe calamities — a cyclone and back-to-back flood, and it had been able to address those disasters admirably.
   The separation of the judiciary was a very good step taken by the government.
   However, the government is not without faults. Although law and order situation improved to some extent, people’s right to free speech and movement have been curtailed a lot, and the government is not even considering to return these rights back to the people any time soon.
   How can there be an election if there is no campaigning by the political parties? The government has taken some bold steps to reduce bureaucracy, such as privatising Biman, but many of these steps are in paper only; little has been done to actually implement these steps.
   Foreign investment is plummeting, and the government is doing nothing to encourage the inward flow of investment. Moreover, this government seems to be more inclined to export manpower abroad, and boasts that more people are leaving the country than ever before.
   Is this a good thing? Doesn’t it show that our country is not fit for young men and women to earn a decent income? Doesn’t it also show that we are not able to use our productive resources in the most efficient way?
   Doesn’t it also show that the young generation is not confident about the future prospects of Bangladesh, and would rather leave the country than try to do something in Bangladesh? The government has taken steps which led to the dramatic increase in remittances.
   However, the government shies away from the fact that a rise in inflation in recent times may have been caused, in part, but the sudden rise in the level of remittances.
   In short, the government has maintained law and order and the promise of the eventual free and fair election at the cost of the curtailment of freedom of speech, movement and assembly, and the deterioration of the macroeconomic trends of Bangladesh. The government has one more year to prove its capability.
   We hope that it is not short-sighted and takes some pragmatic steps that can help to improve the general economic condition of Bangladesh.
   Tonmoy Islam
   On e-mail

Irregular flashes of sheer brilliance and occasional bursts of youthful defiance are heart-warming and spectacular. But the Tigers are not, however, the ingredients for Test cricket. For too long we have allowed ill-placed nationalism buffered by that one spark of accidental competence to cloud our judgment about the state of the nation’s Test cricket.
   Let us call a spade a spade: Bangladesh Test cricket, at this point, is a joke. It may well be time to think of it dispassionately and perhaps consider a self-imposed suspension. Such a moratorium will allow us to continue high class cricket ties in ODIs but also let the Test side take a breather and develop at its own pace without the interference of gruelling schedules against Test giants.
   Bangladesh is not in the class of Test cricket yet and it needs to prepare and develop it. Such preparation and development cannot happen with the continuous tour schedule and confidence shattering blowouts at the hands of the established teams.
   BT
   On e-mail