such schools know about this clandestine trade going on very close to their institutions and some students experimenting it on a regular basis but they are held hostage by these notorious groups.

The number of addicts in the country, it is known through a survey of UNDP and other NGOs has swelled to more than 30 lakh from 10 lakh in 1996. The number of beds in some drug rehabilitation centres in the city was in the neighbourhood of 50 in the late 90s and

cal conflict are now raiding homes and killing civilians in broad daylight. In consequence, Dhaka, once a decent city, has turned into an abode of criminals as well with horrifying images of killing, abduction, rape, extortion and looting.

It's hard to believe, and harder still to comprehend ... but it is true. The majority of heinous crimes in the country today are being committed by these young addicts as a survey by the police department has revealed. Sadly true, most of

ers knew about it they could not be touched because of the protection and patronage they enjoyed from the ruling bosses. Otherwise how could a food items manufacturing company in the country could continue exporting heroin worth crores of taka to London for years under cover of food items ? People would never have known it unless London police had exposed it. People do not know till now what action was taken against that company and its owners after this

IN the backdrop of the menacing cloud of drug abuse and drug trafficking looming large, the nation seems incapable of stemming the tide of this scourge. With the seizure of about 5 kg of heroin from a house in the old part of the city worth 5 crore taka in the last week of last month, it seems this illicit trade has invaded the peaceful home environment of the country. Most worrisome as the Hon. Adviser of the Ministry of Health pointed out in a seminar on the control of drug abuse last week that almost 7 percent of the drug addicts in the country have been diagnosed to be suffering from AIDS. Although the number of Al DS patients in the country is still low, yet the finding has created a ripple in the sensible citizenry as reports of recovery of drugs like heroin, Phensedyl and the latest brand Yaba are pouring in.

The easy tolerance of the 80s, when drug was something of a personal addictive habit, has turned into a real menace. The various types of drugs now available in the market, in considerable quantities, now spell disaster for the society. And to a nation that espouses adherence to religious principle, commitment to piety, morality and strict code of puritan life, drug addiction has emerged as the dark side of our character. The country, it seems, is going to be awash with this 'giver of euphoria and taker of life.'

Although crimes of different nature, including peddling of drugs, have decreased considerably after this caretaker government has taken over, still some shanties, uncrowded lanes and alley ways of old Dhaka and even some posh areas and most worryingly, some lanes and by lanes close to some schools have turned into sprawling markets of drugs like Phensedyl and Yaba. Kids in the age group of 12-14 use some code names to sell these drugs. For safe trading and operation, a handful of youth in these areas serve as lookouts, drug packagers and sometimes as arms bearing soldiers. It has reportedly been learnt that teachers of

now it has increased to more than 1000, and almost all of them are run by private initiative. Over the years hundreds of thousands of poor people, especially the youngsters within the age range 14 to 30 without any job or business have flocked to the capital city in search of work and a better life. Few found either and packed themselves into shanties. Shockingly true, many of the desperate turned to crime to make a living working under the protection of some influential godfathers who operate this clandestine business but have always evaded arrest because of high connectionsand money dealings.

Unsurprisingly, drug, crime and youth make a potent and heady cocktail. Some of us may find watching films based on such themes entertaining and go to bed with the reassurance that it was all fiction. However what is on the silver screen is coming more closer to our neighbourhood than we would have thought. There is a general sense of alarm across the nation, aroused by a spurt in crime involving the young, mostly addicts and including everything from extortion to robbery and even ghastly murder as a recent survey by different social organisations and NGOs have revealed.

In recent years, especially during the last five years, the vicious modus operandi of these drug thugs has evoked much fear in public mind. Teenage addicts and drug peddlers engaged by powerful persons with a vile motive to eliminate their adversaries relating to land dispute or business and politi-

these young criminals, operating individually or in gangs, seem to come from affluent families and the crimes they commit seem to be more vicious than before. An SSC level student in the city hires 'assassins' to kill another classmate who refused to stop going around with a girl he wanted for himself. In another case an addict paramour incensed by the girl's refusal to marry him, blocked her way back from school, forced her to an abandoned house and there he raped her and than killed her by strangulating.

Not surprisingly, the most devastating impact of drug addiction and drug dealings is a rise in violent crimes, not just a surge in extortion, mugging and armed robbery but lethal violence. In recent years, Dhaka city's homicide rates have gone up several times and possibly Dhaka now leads the world in deaths by firearms. Expert analysis says that almost 70 per cent of the violence is credited to either getting or using drugs. They operate either by themselves or are engaged as hired goons by the drug lords or other agencies to serve their vile ends.

Ironically the drug dealing has peaked to such new heights because of the improvement in telecommunication technology like cellular phones, besides easy availability of sophisticated weapons smuggled in the country through all possible routes. Perhaps during the last five years of the BNP-Jamaat alliance rule drug barons ruled supreme in their dens, and if people and law enforc-

racket was unearthed.

The drug dealers, it appears, are bewitching susceptible kids and gullible housewives and unsuspecting young girls who never dared coming out of their houses even under compelling situations of impoverishment. As a recent newspaper report suggests, Shahida, a young college going girl in village Satani of Satkhira and her mother and two young sisters were won over by the drug lords for a round trip to Dhaka in a private car in exchange of carrying 400 bottles of Phensedyl, which Shahida now says after capture by the police she did not know.

For the present caretaker government that has waged a war against all types of evils, the crackdown on drugs has to be the latest imperative. As revealed by newspaper reports, the current drug addiction and drug trafficking has alarmingly peaked and thefearthat has seized the society is hardly unwarranted because the addict son is killing his father and an addict husband is killing his wife on her refusal to bring drug money from her parent's house. As reports indicate Bangladesh till now continues to be a transit route for drug trafficking. The government must not only promise but also implement a massive drug education campaign and nation-wide drive for drug-free parks, marketplaces, restaurants, hotels and last of all schools.

Unless the government can rid the country of this scourge by a sustained effort through mobilisation of every segment of the society

against drug abuse, our chances of living as a healthy nation with commitment to social progress and prosperity and curbing chaos will remain a far cry. Hopefully, the Hon'ble Adviser for Law, Information and Public Works has in a recent seminar on control of drug abuse sounded taking some measures that instills hope in the public mind.

Researchers have studied the effects of drugs on the brain and believe that it interferes with normal bio-chemical agents that control the desire for food, sex and sleep. Given a choice between food and drugs in laboratory experiments, monkeys would become hooked on to cocaine or heroin and take it until they starve to death. Humans also become as much maniac. Taking the fact into consideration that the drive to intoxication is irrepressible and unstoppable like hunger and sex, the whole society including the parents, teachers in schools and colleges have to mount an aggressive attack on the loopholes in the society. The problem, experts point out cannot be erased by even the most concerted government crusade alone. Experts also point to deep-seated causes that produce a continued cravings for drugs : lack of community, disintegration of the family, moral laxity and the relentless pressure to perform in a fast paced society.

For years while much of the world battled the drug plague, we were largely immune. Drug trade or drug abuse never proliferated as a problem and never concerned us as such since in most cases it was considered as a taboo. But now that attitude is changing. Researchers and pragmatists blame persistent economic hardship and the stress of living in a society facing unemployment and social inequity for driving increasing number of people, especially youths, to seek refuge in drugs.

In a large measure it is the responsibility of the parents to step up restoration of moral values that are eroding fast. Many of the parents, especially mothers are not giving enough time in raising their children in a proper way. Some of these parents who are affluent beyond measure are given to habits that transgress the limits of our traditional social norms and family values , alienating the children from the family and making them disillusioned. In a bid to finding out the solutions to these problems, we must fulfil our commitment to our children.

Md. Asadullah Khan is a former teacher of physics and Controller of Examinations, BUET.