BATB ads at Bengal Classical Music Fest!

British American Tobacco Bangladesh (BATB) has installed a smoking zone this year like the past years at the Bengal Classical Music Festival premises which testifies their direct link with arrangement of the event. Though carrying tobacco and tobacco products during entrance is banned, a well-decorated cigarette selling point cum smoking zone, set by BATB, attracts attention of the invited audiences. Since all types of advertisements are banned in Bangladesh by tobacco control law, the multinational tobacco manufacturer is trickily running its advertisements. Relevant authority, implementing the tobacco control law, should take strong steps immediately to stop the illegal activities of BATB. Otherwise, it would be impossible to achieve a tobacco-free country pledged by the Premier.
Notably, British American Tobacco (BAT) has been conducting its death marketing in over 150 countries and occupies the largest share of tobacco business in South Asia. To expand business, it adopts numerous tricky measures. By the same time, it is always desperate to prevent any types of tobacco control initiatives.
Though all types of advertisement and promotion for tobacco products are banned in Bangladesh after the TC law, the tricky advertisement and promotion of tobacco products are still going on. The ITC (former India Tobacco Company) limited launched a joint classical musical festival in Dhaka November 2012 known as BENGAL ITC- SRA CLASSICAL MUSIC FEST-20121. It is to be noted, that the ITC Sangeet Research Academy (ITC-SRA) is a part of the ITC limited which is part of their CSR activities to promote the ancient tradition of Hindustani Classical Music regionally and globally2. Notably, multinational tobacco giant, British American Tobacco (BAT) enjoy 30 percent share of this Indian tobacco company3.
This classical music festival has created immense interest among music lovers locally and globally and hence, the number of participants are on the increase. This classical mega event of Bengal Foundation now has earned a huge popularity as many of the classical maestros of the Indian classical music perform here every year. Most of them are engaged to ITC-SRA on permanent/part-time mode of contract4.
Though Bengal Foundation organizes this musical event every year with direct support from ITC Music Research Academy5,6, the organizers omitted the ITC – SRA name from the title of the festival in 2013. They might have followed the strategy to avoid any violation of “The Smoking and Using of Tobacco Products (Control) (Amendment) Act, 2013” of Bangladesh. According to Section 5.C of the TC law, any tobacco company cannot be a sponsoring partner of such events.
BAT’s local associate British American Tobacco Bangladesh(BATB) was directly involved with the event7which is proven through the setting up of a point of sale and a smoking zone inside the festival venue in 2015 - Bangladesh Army stadium which is a public place, and a non-smoking zone as well.
Bengal Foundation, like the past years, has organized the musical fest valid from November 24 – 28, 2016. The anti-tobacco activists are sensing both covert and direct presence of BATB.

1.http://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-252837
2.http://www.itcportal.com/sustainability/corporate-social-responsibility.aspx
3.http://www.bat.com/group/sites/uk__9d9kcy.nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO9DCL3B/$FILE/medMDA87PVT.pdf?openelement
4.http://www.itcsra.org/sra_news_views/sra_news_views_links/academy_updates.html
5.http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/the-changemaker/article7329823.ece
6.http://bengalclassicalmusicfest.com/project/press-release/
7.http://www.tobaccoindustrywatchbd.org/newsletter/page/1/e/224