As the interim government of Nobel Laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus completes 100 days in office, I find it obligatory to commend this non-partisan administration, for the way it has succeeded in steadying a ship that it was forced to take over in violent seas, amid inclement weather, and no sighting of land.

The unprecedented collapse of the previous regime, that hollowed out the state in ways unlike anything witnessed in recent world history, was met with a general sense of euphoria among the country's 180 million people. Their entire focus at the time, was on the tangible weight that seemed to have been lifted off their chests, with the exit of an overbearing and repressive government, that had completely lost the nation's pulse, and showed little to no interest in even finding it again. They were happy just to breathe again.

What the people didn't know, was the real possibility at that point of veering dangerously off course. There may be examples through history, but having travelled a fair bit of this planet, I can safely say I have never experienced a nation where the police had left its posts. It was a recipe for bedlam, for anarchy and a one-way ticket to Banana Republic. From there, the way the Yunus government was able to return it to a notion of stability, required skill and sensitivity. Working in conjunction with a highly professional, and clearly nation-loving Army, it was able to do that without setting off any serious alarm bells. It was able to do this, despite any number of potential flashpoints - from the world's largest refugee camp housing a volatile, displaced population, to a defeated political force that was nevertheless entrenched throughout the country, ready to pounce on any opportunity.

The venerable CA, in his address to mark the landmark it crossed this week, spoke of conspiracies being hatched to make it fail, and with it the nation. This newspaper has traditionally rejected conspiratorial narratives, finding it much more worthwhile to focus on doing our own needful as a nation. Yet I can affirm that the conspiracies have never been more real, the dangers they pose more immediate. By now, no one should be left in any doubt, as to the intentions of our large neighbour, bordering us on three sides. They have thrown in their lot with the defeated political force, and that in a sense has left us with no choice but to extend a cold shoulder.

In these fraught times, at this historic juncture, if Delhi is still unable to cast off its outdated, AL-tinged glasses for viewing Bangladesh and its people, I believe history will not be kind in its judgement. I wish to be heavily invested, in the just announced FOCs in December, to be led by the respective foreign secretaries. To be sure, a small affair with virtually no political import, but again in these times of flux, potentially significant. We must present ourselves with sincerity, and see eye-to-eye. That little, can go a long way to settling much of what roils us. I believe both sides must be capable of that much.