The road to hell, it is said, is paved with good intentions. Some of the actions of the army-backed interim government in Dhaka are clearly well-intentioned. Or so a wide cross-section of Bangladeshis thought. Even the international community welcomed the steps that the government had taken in order to curb corruption, anarchic politics and above all, Islamist extremism. Although civilians head the caretaker administration, the real power behind it is the army. Bangladesh had a long and rather unhappy experience with army rules since the new nation was born in 1971. If the people still supported most of the interim government’s moves, it was because of their deep disappointment with the political parties. In these columns, The Telegraph endorsed the government’s decision to defer the elections. Better a delayed poll than one that would have robbed large numbers of people of their franchise, this newspaper had argued. The country’s politics had become so vitiated by personal rivalries between Sheikh Hasina Wajed and Begum Khaleda Zia that some drastic steps were needed to clean up the mess. It is doubtful if any elected government would have dared to take action against Mr Tarique Rahman, one of Ms Zia’s sons, who had become almost an extra-constitutional power during her tenure as prime minister.

However, there was always the danger that the generals of the Bangladesh army could become overreachers. That suspicion is being strengthened by some recent actions of the government. The army appeared to be even-handed in dealing with corrupt politicians. The generals did not seem to make a distinction between Ms Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Ms Wajed’s Bangladesh Awami League. The government’s actions against the latter have now tarnished its image and also raised questions about the army’s real intentions. The murder charge against her is simply ridiculous. But when she decided to return to the country from a personal trip to face the trial, the government barred her entry into the country. The parallel with what Pakistan’s president, Mr Pervez Musharraf, had done after usurping power in an army coup, is too obvious to ignore. He forced two former prime ministers, Ms Benazir Bhutto and Mr Nawaj Sharif, out of the country in order to consolidate his reign. A flawed democracy is no excuse for an army takeover.