National Citizen Party (NCP) lawmaker Hasnat Abdullah has questioned the effectiveness of the police and the Department of Narcotics Control, saying their failure to control drugs has raised questions about the role of Home Minister Salauddin Ahmed.

In a post on his verified Facebook page on Monday, the Cumilla-4 MP questioned why State Minister Ishraque Hossain had to take to the streets himself with a weapon to fight drugs, arguing that the responsibility for such action should lie with the institutions tasked with controlling narcotics.

“Why did Mr Ishraque Hossain, despite being a state minister, have to take to the streets himself with a weapon to fight drugs? The government must be asked to answer this question,” Hasnat wrote.

He said the situation raised serious questions about the effectiveness of the police and the Department of Narcotics Control, both of which fall under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

“If the institutions responsible for controlling drugs had been performing their duties properly, why would a state minister have to take to the streets and act directly in this manner?” he asked.

Hasnat’s comments come as State Minister for Liberation War Affairs Ishraque Hossain said he had voluntarily asked Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to relieve him of his ministerial duties, insisting the decision was his own. Ishraque said he wanted to continue his anti-drug campaign without embarrassing the government or the BNP.

His announcement followed two days of controversy over videos showing him brandishing a pistol while chasing suspected drug users during an anti-drug operation in Dhaka on Saturday.

The incident drew widespread criticism over a sitting lawmaker and state minister taking law enforcement into his own hands.

On Sunday, Daily Waadaa reported, citing two highly placed sources, that Ishraque had been asked to resign following the controversy.

Another source said he had been barred from attending a cabinet meeting.

His office subsequently rejected the resignation reports as false, baseless and politically motivated.

At Monday's press conference, however, Ishraque acknowledged seeking release from his ministerial responsibilities but maintained that the initiative came from him, not the prime minister.

In this regard, Hasnat questioned whether Ishraque alone was responsible for the situation or whether the relevant institutions also bore responsibility for their failures. He said that if state institutions had failed to play an effective role in controlling drugs, responsibility would lie not only with the authorities concerned but also with the home minister.

He also questioned whether removing a state minister would resolve the problem, asking how accountability for state institutions would be ensured in that case.

“If the state's responsible institutions were functioning effectively, why would a state minister find himself in a situation where he has to take the law into his own hands?” he wrote.

Drawing a comparison with the prime minister's visit to a hospital to inspect its toilets, Hasnat questioned why the head of government had to personally inspect matters that should fall under the responsibility of designated authorities and oversight mechanisms.

He said that if the mechanisms responsible for ensuring hospital cleanliness and service quality were functioning properly, it was reasonable to question whether the prime minister would have needed to inspect such matters personally.

According to Hasnat, the issue went beyond the cleanliness of a particular hospital and raised broader questions about the effectiveness of the institutions responsible for delivering public services.

He said that if the prime minister had to personally supervise every aspect of state administration and a state minister had to take to the streets himself to take action against drugs, questions would inevitably arise about the responsibilities and effectiveness of the institutions concerned.

Hasnat further questioned what the government would do if the public eventually took to the streets to protest against the situation and asked whose resignation it would seek to evade responsibility.

He argued that removing an individual might temporarily contain a crisis but would not resolve institutional failure. He called for ensuring the capacity of responsible institutions, investigating the causes of failure and holding those concerned accountable.

“Otherwise, removing one person will achieve nothing beyond obscuring the root of the problem,” he wrote.

In his concluding remarks, Hasnat said people like Ishraque Hossain would ultimately have to bear the brunt of the failures of Home Minister Salauddin Ahmed, whom he described as convicted in cases involving the occupation of fish enclosures, corruption and bribery.