Public Health on Top

BATB has conducted death marketing at the five-day long Bengal Classical Music Festival (from Nov 24 – Nov 28, 2016) by violating the tobacco control law. BATB has trickily banned carrying tobacco products inside the venue but sold cigarettes at separate point of sales for males and females inside the venue. Though a small area beside the point of sale, covered with black-shaded fabric, was made as smoking-zone, most of the smokers smoked cigarettes extensively outside of that zone which was a public place as well. But smoking in public places is an offence by the tobacco control law. Notably, around 50,000 audiences, in average, had enjoyed the event every night and majority of them were youths. BATB is cunningly attracting the youths on smoking with the association of some reputed business organizations (Square, Brac, Maasranga Television), and on the other side, to hamper the anti-tobacco measures, it is cleverly involving the top officials of the state (MPs, bureaucrats). The dream of tobacco-free Bangladesh pledged by the Premier will be impossible if the tobacco companies enjoys such flexibilities.