The Tuesday raid on six residential halls of Dhaka University has yielded, as of always, next to nothing? The immediately previous raid early this year got leaked beforehand, deliberately or whatever, and the boys were smart enough to clear out in time. Why this repeat performance now?

The gangs needed no leak this time. Only at Shahidullan Hall police went unannounced in the small hours of Tuesday. For the remaining five halls it was notice enough to take cover. What was the big idea behind such transparent raids? All Dhaka knows about there being a sudden amassing of both new arms and non-student outsiders in the halls. How could all of it vanish in hours?

We refuse to believe that police doesn't know about the top gunmen and their cache and how and wh^re to get them both. Then why this dismal performance?

Private arms must be recovered and the sway of the guntoting cadres completely eliminated before the nation can have a fair and free election. This was not possible as long^as political parties patronised and protected and in fact, groomed, kept and pampered these hordes as some sort of underwriters of an important kind of political clout.

That was one Important reason why election had to be held under a non-party government. The present caretaker government has no way but to eliminate armed power if only to justify its genesis.

Tuesday’s raids — their conduct and their results — are very little to take heart from. Arms recovery programmes never had any satisfactory impact in Bangladesh. And the present government must execute it to an effective level within at best two months. The task is formidable but there is no other choice. Police arid, if need be, armed forces must give their all and people must wholly co-operate with them to make the ensuing polls Immune to terror and violence. Arms must not be allowed to serve f>olitical ends in a nation bound, of necessity, or democracy.