NOBODY hides it. Everyone at Dhaka assumes that you know about the army's presence behind the caretaker government. Chief Advisor Iftakhar Ahmed himself tells you about it. But he emphasizes that the army is in charge of only law and order and all that can reveal corruption and crime of politicians. Yet, the fact remains that the army has spread to districts, and "guides" deputy commissioners in the administration. Whatever your fears, the people in Bangladesh have felt relieved. They have welcomed the army action without reservation. They were so sick of the misrule and corruption by former Prime Ministers Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, the "Minus Two," as they are called, that the public would have accepted anything, however drastic. Otherwise, Khaleda would have returned to power and she had arranged to the last detail to get a majority at the polls. Whether the constitution allows the extension of the caretaker government beyond six months or not is hardly a topic of discussion. People are too engrossed in witnessing case after case of corruption and criminality at high places. They applaud every disclosure and every arrest as if it is an emotional purification of their involvement in the wasteful hartals and bands that has cost the nation dearly. No one knows how many more corrupt politicians and their supporters in business and elsewhere will be brought to the book. People want the cleansing of stables once and for all. So far, only 130 or so cases have come up but the number is said to be "plus 420." They mostly relate to members of Khaleda's Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Her son, Tariq, who was an extra-constitutional authority as Sanjay Gandhi was during the emergency in India, is on top of the list.

His wealth runs into hundreds of crores. Khaleda's other son, Koko, owns a house in Dubai under a fictitious name. From among Khaleda's ministers in the limelight is her home minister. He hushed up a murder after pocketing 50 crore takka (roughly Rs 40 crore). Many former ministers have fled the country.

Hasina is reportedly herself involved. Three bank owners have given in writing that they paid her in takka one crore, three crore and five crore respectively before getting permission to open their bank. Roughly 40 cases against her party men have come to light. She believes that all this has been done to put pressure on her to quit politics. This may well be true, but the taint of those involved cannot be denied. The scale of corruption and the close involvement of top politicians have shocked the nation. It knew that corruption was there but the disclosures have been beyond their wildest guess.

The army has set up a task force to dig out instances of corruption. Once the task force identifies the suspects and collects evidence, it passes on the case to the Anti-Corruption Commission for instituting proceedings before the specially-designated court. The commission, headed by a top retired army officer, is a constitutional body and also has civilian officers as members. People have not raised any objection to the chief advisor's statement that elections will be held towards the end of 2008, the postponement by two years. The Election Commission which is engaged in revising electoral rolls has also the public support. The army's help to the Election Commission for a quick job is seen as a plus point. So far so good; one ominous thought which crosses the mind is whether the army would quit after it has done the cleansing job. Since the 2008 is yet one and a half years away, not many talk about what after that. Even otherwise, people are so much impressed by the manner in which the army is using the broomstick that they keep the doubts to themselves. They want a thorough cleansing job. Eyebrows were, however, raised when Lt Gen Moeen-U Ahmed, the Chief of Army Staff, said in a written speech in the presence of the country's president Tajuddin Ahmed that "democracy itself requires a secure environment for it to thrive and spread its roots." He went on to add that "both democracy and security are complimentary features of the system now being put in place by correct initiatives." True, the army chief flinched after The Star, influential English daily, questioned: "Was it a mere intellectual exercise or a purposeful floating of ideas to gauge public reactions?" The paper went on to say that "our first trust with a general in politics was with Ayub Khan back in 1958 and he wanted to 're-invent democracy according to the genius of the people' and we ended up having 'basic democracy' that was thoroughly rejected by our people, though it took a while."

The Star's forthright opinion received support all over. In subsequent observations, the general tried to water down what he had said earlier. I asked the chief advisor at Dhaka the other day the same question: Would the army quit after the cleansing? He had no doubt that it would and he based his reading on talks with the army chief. The chief advisor, a simple and straight person, who wears his integrity on his sleeve, is confident that by the time the cleansing job is over, the system would have been reformed and institutions like the media, the judiciary and the Election Commission would have become strong enough to protect the polity. The chief advisor may turn to be right. The disgust and disdain with which people view the politicians indicates the nation's determination to stay alert from now onward. Yet I have seen how Ayub and Zia-ul Haq promised to quit after holding free and fair elections within 90 days and stayed on for years to turn Pakistan into a military-ruled country. Likewise, I fear, Bangladesh may go the Pakistan way, the khaki behind the kurta and pajama. But the silver lining is the irresistible Bangladeshi. He is defiant and determined, different from the phlegmatic Pakistani.