Primary and Mass Education Minister Mostafizur Rahman said if he were the home minister, he would set an example by rooting out the problem of drug addiction by "shooting the addicts at sight (sic) ".
“Some people say that drug abuse may be far worse a problem than militancy. They are right – drug abuse is more menacing than militancy, because militancy can be eradicated one day. If I were the home minister, I would have eliminated drug addiction, and the only way to do it is to adopt the 'shoot at sight' policy against drug addicts,” he said while addressing the 28th founding anniversary program of the Department of Narcotics Control at Tejgaon area in Dhaka on Tuesday.
“It would not be necessary to implement this policy in all the 508 upazilas. Doing it in only 10 upazilas would suffice," the minister said.
However, he said for a drug-free society, all the political parties must band together and make the decision to take this tough step.
Regarding militancy, Mustafizur said: “(It) will not exist in the current form. The other way around, militants will not exist if the form is changed. It will never be possible to control 700 crore people with the threat of bombs. Rather, it is the common people who will always overpower them. But what will happen if we do not forge a similar war against drug abuse?”
The article was originally published in Bangla Tribune
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