Those involved in drug trade have no right to do politics, fight will continue: Ishrak Hossain at Dhaka seminar

People involved in the drug trade have no right to do politics, Dhaka-6 lawmaker Engineer Ishrak Hossain has said. He said anyone whose drug business has political links must be unmasked and brought to justice, and that his fight against drugs would continue.

He made the remarks on Friday (6 November) as chief guest at a seminar titled 'Challenges and ways forward in narcotics control', organised by Debate for Democracy at the CIRDAP auditorium on Topkhana Road in the capital.

Ishrak Hossain said the drug trade has political patronage and involvement by some members of the law-enforcement agencies. He said a vested quarter is operating at drug hotspots using false political identities of the ruling party, and that these traders change their political identity whenever power changes hands.

He said drugs are being spread across the country from border areas using various tactics. The involvement of several well-known transport companies is also being heard of, he said, and some name-only pharmaceutical companies face allegations of involvement in the drug trade as well. He also said a group is using geopolitical tactics to spread drugs in an attempt to destroy society and the nation.

Pointing to the link between drugs and crime, Ishrak said some people addicted to drugs are getting involved in terrible crimes. Citing the child Ramisa murder case and the much-discussed Oishi incident, he said such brutal crimes stem from the harmful effects of drugs, and that resistance against drugs must be built through the combined efforts of family, society and the state.

Debate for Democracy chairman Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury Kiran presented the keynote at the seminar. He said the easy availability of drugs is one of the main reasons for their spread in the country; cannabis, yaba and other drugs can now be found within reach, yaba has spread from cities to villages and neighbourhoods, and drugs are even being delivered to homes on online orders.

Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury Kiran said those involved in drugs and crime can have no political identity, and that drug traders change their political identity when power changes. Noting that the government has adopted a zero-tolerance policy on drug control, he said the government must stay alert so that no one can use a political identity to benefit from the drug trade.

He also said that in anti-drug drives, users, carriers and small traders are arrested while the main masterminds often remain out of reach. He cited the various tactics used to transport drugs, including shops, mobile businesses, secret chambers in passenger vehicles, inside the body and stomach, and even mobile phone battery chambers. Drug control cannot be achieved by the government or law-enforcement agencies alone, he said; alongside political will, social resistance must be built.

Department of Narcotics Control director general Md Hasan Maruf and psychiatry professor Dr M A Mohit Kamal spoke at the seminar as guests.

Ekattor Television news chief Shah Azizur Rahman Kiran, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University professor Dr Tajul Islam Chowdhury Tuhin, State University of Bangladesh Debating Society president Md Munna Husain and Eden Mohila College debate team leader Masnun Nabila Alam gave goodwill speeches. The seminar, held under the slogan 'Say no to drugs, build a drug-free Bangladesh' and moderated by former national debater Md Kawsar Alam, was supported by the State University of Bangladesh Debating Society and the Eden Mohila College Debating Club.