Stop the drug trade

Last Wednesday police recovered a man named Nuruzzaman Kajol from a house in Bangla Motor in the capital city. He apparently has serious mental problems. He was wielding a cleaver when he emerged and there was no one else in the house with him except his four-year-old child. The people on the street watching the entire scene unfold were apprehensive that he would turn on his own son with the cleaver. The law enforcement managed to handle the situation.

However, the body of a dead child was also recovered from within the house. He was the two-and-a-half-year-old son of Nuruzzaman Kajol. He may not have been killed, but his emaciated body indicates prolonged and severe lack of nutrition. Yet the family was not that poor that they could not afford food.

Actually it was drugs that had ruined the family. According to his family, Nuruzzaman was a drug addict and had gone to extremes. He had beaten his wife and thrown her out of the house but not allowed her to take the children with her. He supposedly would buy food from the shops to feed the children. But he was not mentally fit enough to actually tend to the children’s needs. His drug addiction destroyed the family and indirectly even led to the death of his infant.

Nuruzzaman’s wife has filed murder charges against him. The police have taken him into remand. It is essential to take legal measures but that probably will not be enough. Nuruzzaman needs medical treatment and rehabilitation from his drug addicted state.

We have no idea how many such drug addicts there are in the country. Even the narcotics control directorate has no account. But it is evident that that around the country, in cities and villages, families are being torn apart by the prevalence of drugs. A large section of the youth is being destroyed. The increase of drug addiction is leading to an increase in family unrest.

The efforts made so far to stop the drug trade have proven to be futile. The reason behind this failure must be examined. Those responsible for the failure must be held accountable. This is a grave problem.