Anti-smoking law still in name only

Photo: STAR

Within minutes of taking his seat in the bus, Mizan burst into a fit of coughing. As tears came down his cheeks, Mizan's watery eyes met the embarrassed glance of a fellow passenger sitting on his right. With a nervous smile, the man took one long puff from the cigarette before tossing it out the window.
As he struggled to suppress his cough, Mizan gave a scornful look at the person on his left who was still smoking his heart out. After a few more drags, he finally put out the cigarette on the floor.
Within the next few minutes the others who were still smoking in the bus however joined the two smokers and stubbed out their cigarettes prematurely.
Having to put up with Dhaka's chaotic and terrible bus services is one thing, but breathing in fumes in an enclosed place is quite another. It gets only worse for the people like Mizanur Rahman who are allergic to cigarette smoke or suffering from asthma.
After years of suffering this aerial assault, Mizan, a Mohammadpur resident, finally decided to put pen to paper and make his point about the nuisance of smoking in public places. He decided to send his complaint to some of the daily newspapers, saying that smoking in public transportations reflects the carelessness and absence of civic sense of the citizens.
"A number of arrogant and senseless people including bus drivers, their helpers and even 'educated' passengers tend to smoke away to glory with little concern for the people around them," wrote Mizanur Rahman.
The majority of the irritated passengers do not bother protesting these types of behaviour as it may lead to embarrassing exchanges and sometimes violent confrontations.
"I am not a smoker-hater," explains Mizan. "Although I've always known the damage passive smoking does to me, I've never shied away from friends who smoke. But problems arise when a restaurant lounge or the inside of a bus gets filled up with smoke every evening and I find myself amidst the lingering fume."
In 2005, with an aim to discourage smoking, the ban of smoking in public and advertisement of tobacco products stirred a surge of awareness amongst the majority of the smoking population. However, as the ban was not widely publicises it was rather short-lived -- thanks to the poor show by authorities concerned.
Majority of the city dwellers still seem to be confused about the law as it failed to clearly define the places off-limits to smoking and advertisement of tobacco products. Hoardings by cigarette companies still deck the roofs of shops throughout the city
"I know that smoking in public and vehicles is prohibited. But I'm not sure about the places falling under the prohibition," said Sharif Mahmud, a student of Dhaka University.
The law prohibits smoking at academic institutions, government, semi-government and autonomous offices, libraries, lifts, hospitals, clinics, court buildings, airports, sea and river port buildings, railway stations, bus terminals, buses, ferries, cinema halls, indoor exhibition centres, theatres and children's parks.
Violators may get three months' imprisonment or a fine of Tk 1,000.
"Smoking in open spaces, though undesirable, is somewhat tolerable. But smoking in an enclosed area, for example in a bus, is not acceptable. It makes the heavy air in buses get heavier, turning the air almost un-breathable," said Prashant Saha, Farmgate.
However, the smokers try to justify their view on the issue. "At the end of the day, death is something everyone has to face. The harms of smoking or passive smoking are serious, but not as cut-and-dried as you might assume," Jalauddin Ahmed, a passenger en route to Farmgate with a lit up cigarette in his hand told this correspondent.
"Should I, having no car of my own, suggest that everyone should stop using their cars? Of course not. Passive smoking is not the only pollutant of air and not the only cause of lung related diseases either," he said.
Criticising smoking in public transportation, Tahmina Islam, an undergraduate student, said, "After going through all the trouble to get to on a public transport, it's a real pain to stand the smoke inside. I was once told, 'stop complaining about smokers -- car fumes are much worse'. But I don't agree with this as I don't sit for hours with my head right next to a car exhaust."
Mizanur Rahman from Mohammadpur suggested, "A massive campaign should be launched to create awareness in this regard. Transport officials and workers should discourage smoking inside the bus rather than lighting up cigarettes themselves."
"The authorities should wake up from their siesta and take steps to properly implement the law," he added.