The ‘recall’ of over 26,000 voters for fingerprint retake was inevitable. The ground reality is the official of the Election Commission and others related in the process in upazilla and zilla levels are just taking orders from the men in uniform who were supposed to give assistance instead of running the show. And the result is too predictable when experts are sidelined and amateurs are in the driving seat.
   We all are waiting eagerly for the voters’ list which is the key to a free, fair and credible election and thus restoration of democracy. And the elusive democracy, if ever restored, is worth all our wounds and humiliations.
   Saif
   Dhaka

This refers to Towheed Feroze’s article on saving Biman. After elaborating in great detail on numerous examples of the criminal negligence, exploitation and rampant corruption in Biman we can’t understand on what basis Feroze thinks the airline can be made into a commercial success simply by acquiring some additional planes and aggressive marketing.
   Is there any reason to imagine that matters will be any different now than they have been for the last 30 years and more? From a perfectly viable airline we have destroyed Biman and reduced it to its present grim state. It should now be painfully obvious that the only way to resurrect Biman would be to hand over its management to an excellent airline like Singapore Airlines or Emirates, giving them responsibility to try and turn Biman around along with the freedom and flexibility to do so.
   Perhaps then we can even retain the invaluable landing rights at Heathrow instead of being shunted to Gatwick or Stansted!
   By all means let us try and save Biman, but not by wishful thinking!
   Ruby Ghuznavi
   On e-mail

One of the reporters on the Ekushey Shomoy programme rightly said while the previous caretaker governments had taken just three months to hold elections and it had taken nine months to liberate Bangladesh, then why should it take incredibly long 1-2 years to hold elections by a tainted, deformed and mutant caretaker arrangement of the present government?
   The reason is quite clear. The current caretaker government is actually run by the World Bank-IMF dictation from Washington. It is the same vested interest group that decides the US presidency. Their timetable is quite logical. They want Hillary Clinton to win the elections in November. In that case they might allow holding elections in December 2008 or derail it in favour of people created by them and heavily financed by the special consortium. That is where the concept of national government is being promoted by these foreign elements to bring in donor-purchased people like Yunus, Kamal Hossain, etc. to implement policies of donors. Some of these people have also been used to purchase vast land masses and setting up enterprises at will in Bangladesh with aid money to further their agenda. These people are now despised by Bangladeshi people for their high interest accruing from their deceiving tactics of cheating the downtrodden people.
   This government has been brought in to make sure that price hikes in gas, electricity and food are forced through the gullet whether Bangladeshis like it or not. The World Bank’s Praful Patel and many Western ambassadors have violated diplomatic norms by making political remarks and interfering in our internal and economic matters.
   In our national interest the elections should be held in three months! From what this government had done so far it can only get an ‘F’ for fail in their report card. I am sure this government has been exposed and people will foil the attempts of foreigners to destroy our democracy by installing an army-backed fascist government.
   Jay
   On e-mail

This is in reference to ‘Rhetoric and diplomacy,’ by Akbar Hussain (January 23).
   Most rhetoric of the US President George W. Bush against Iranian nuclear ambition is based on wrong premises. The US National Intelligence Estimate has already concluded that Iran stopped its nuclear programme by 2003. This was partly because Iran no longer needed a nuclear deterrent vis-à-vis Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. In fact, with Iraq’s Shiite majority in power, Iran has now an ally in Iraq. As for countering Israel’s nuclear arsenal, Iran doesn’t share any border with Israel and despite Iran’s support for Shiite Hezbollah in Lebanon, there is little possibility for an Iran-Israeli war.
   President Bush has failed to realise that his sabre-rattling only strengthens the hands of mullahs and marginalise the moderate elements who are dubbed as American agents. Hopefully, the next American president will change the course and try to help the moderate elements inside Iraq by urging the mullahs to grant greater political freedom. Negotiation is the best way to achieve this. Bush has little idea how to spread democracy through non-violent means. He has failed to bring democracy in Iraq at gun point. Democracy is a government by the people and only people can bring it by their own efforts.
   Mahmood Elahi
   Ottawa, Canada

If the trial of the war criminals takes place, I would give my unconditional vote to the caretaker government. But I am afraid, no matter how hard we urge, it is very unlikely to happen. All the previous governments used this issue to serve their political interests. The recent upsurge was not something different either. Don’t you ever wonder why the protests at the universities and the Mujahid’s comment took place at the same time when the prices of essentials were sky-rocketing?
   A citizen
   On e-mail

I am worried and scared at the various rulings of the Supreme Court in recent times. I am not a lawyer. I am not involved in any party politics of Bangladesh. I feel bad when I find the case of brutal killing of Sheikh Mujib and his family members lying in the cold storage while the case against Sheikh Hasina is progressing very fast. The rulings of the High Court Division are being generally turned down by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.
   Arman Mirza
   Dhaka