Tackling drug abuse and trafficking

Moving in the right direction, India and Bangladesh last week vowed to make sustained efforts to curb smuggling of illegal drugs across their international borders. It is a much welcome step, no doubt, but there is a substantial need for involvement and participation of more neighbouring countries to tackle the menace.

The chiefs of the two South Asian countries' narcotic control agencies who met in New Delhi on 4th October 2012 expressed concern over the growing cases of synthetic drugs and pharmatical narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances being siphoned off for abuse, and trafficked across their borders.

India's Narcotic Control Board (NCB) Director General Ajay Chadha and Bangladesh's Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) Director General Mohammed Iqbal released a joint statement after a day-long meeting. It said, "India and Bangladesh have agreed to enhance mutual cooperation through sustained steps to control drug trafficking".

The two agencies agreed to "continue sharing actionable intelligence and adopt a coordinated strategy to prevent cross-border drug trafficking".

It was the third such director general-level meeting between the two agencies; they hope to continually engage and provide logistic helps to each other. They also have decided to meet once again in June next year, in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh for the same cause.

The problem however is that it cannot become very effective unless more countries are involved in a very serious level, especially in the North East part of India. It is a well known fact that drugs are smuggled from Myanmar through porous international borders, across North East states like Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram. Even if India-Bangladesh border is sealed, unless Myanmar is brought to the negotiating table, it cannot become effective as desired.

Researcher and Scholar, Dr Pushpita Das, an Associate Fellow at the Institute for Security & Defence Analysis(IDSA) in her book, 'Drug Trafficking in India: A case of Border Security', rightly noted that drug trafficking through land is taking place along India's international borders, not just from one direction but from several directions. Countries involved are Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar (Burma), and others indirectly. Therefore, bilateral meetings cannot solve the problem. All the chiefs of the narcotic control boards in these countries must be involved to come up with concrete measures to control the menace.

Recently, Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi during his visit to Punjab noted the serious drug abuse among the youths in the state; and the blame is put on the drug traffickers from across the border. Though the figure given by Gandhi may be disputable, Punjab facing a sort of crisis in drug abuse among its youths is well established.

According to Tehelka magazine, a submission by the Punjab government before the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2009 noted that "a staggering 75 percent of Punjab's youth" was hooked on drug abuse.

New York Times also noted in April: "Throughout the border state of Punjab, whether in villages or cities, drugs have become a scourge".

"Opium is prevalent, refined as heroin or other illegal substances. Schoolboys sometimes eat small black balls of opium paste, with tea, before classes. Synthetic drugs are popular among those too poor to afford heroin."

According to a survey conducted by psychologist Dr Shiv Sood, presented at 'Convergence Workshop on Drug Abuse Prevention' at Dimapur, Nagaland in June 2011, Nagaland has an estimated 35,000 to 40,000 drug users, the highest number of them in India, followed by Punjab where more than 70 per cent of boys and girls abuse drugs.

Drug abuse is also rampant in other parts of the country, and especially the North East region where all kinds of drugs are available in cheap costs.

In order to combat the menace, the Chief Minister of Mizoram Lal Thanhawla in May this year conveyed his government's concern to TKA Nair, Advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He said, "Smuggling of narcotics and other drugs has been increasing along the unfenced India-Myanmar border".

"To tackle the menace of drug trafficking, smuggling of other goods and infiltration, the central government must fence the entire India-Myanmar border and tighten security," he stressed.

Border fencing too is a good measure but it cannot stop drug smugglers from doing their job. All neighbouring countries must involve in ending the drug trafficking menace across the borders. Authorities must take necessary steps soon before it is too late.