Online Gambling in Bangladesh: A Growing Social Threat

Time is very untimely. When I look outside the window, I see a sky covered with clouds, and when I look inside my heart, I see an endless fog. Which coral are we heading towards? When I started journalism in the eighties, the water of rivers and canals was very clear, and the minds of the people of this country were also largely unpolluted. Today, the water of rivers and canals is also very black due to encroachment and pollution, and the conscience of a large part of our young society is today shrouded in a magical digital darkness. Do you know where the place of greatest pain is today? The young society of our beloved motherland - who once gave their hearts to the streets in 1952, who brought a new sun through the barrel of a rifle in 1971, who overthrew the dictatorship in 1990 and 24, today a large part of them is sinking into a quicksand of degradation. The modern name for that swindle is online gambling. This is not just a temporary deviation, it is a deep social cancer in the 21st century. The disease is silently, in a very clever way, attacking the roots of our society and culture.

Today, when I look at the country's newspapers, my chest trembles. My fingers repeatedly stop while writing a column. A few days ago, I read a tragic news. The only child of a middle-class family in Dhaka, a brilliant university student, committed suicide by hanging himself from the ceiling fan in his bedroom, unable to repay his online gambling debts. Before committing suicide, he wrote in his diary, 'Mother, forgive me. I entered with the greed of winning only a few thousand taka, today I owe lakhs of taka.' What a terrible illusion this is! We can compare this gambling with the infamous mermaids or 'Sirens' (Jharatbhang) of Greek mythology. Sitting on a rocky island in the middle of the sea, the sirens sang in such a magical, enchanting tune that sailors from afar, blinded by the magic of that tune, would change the direction of their ships. They thought that some heavenly happiness awaited them ahead. But whenever the ship approached that island, it would be crushed to pieces by the sharp rocks and sink into the sea. That island was filled with the bones of sailors. Today's online gambling apps (such as Xbet, Melbet or Linebet, etc.) are modern sirens. They play flashy advertisements, sparkling interfaces and the enchanting tune of becoming an 'overnight millionaire' on the smartphone screen. Our unemployed, frustrated and simple-minded youth, blinded by the magic of that tune, are throwing the ship of their lives towards certain destruction. They may be elated after winning a couple of thousand taka for the first time, thinking that this is the key to changing their fate! But they don't know that it is actually a trap like picking leaves. The inner wall is so slippery that once you step on it, there is no other way but to sink into the abyss.

The language of statistics is very cruel. It does not understand any emotions, it only presents the harsh truth before our eyes. Keeping silent after seeing the chilling information that has emerged in recent studies by various law enforcement agencies, sociologists and economists in the country is tantamount to suicide. (a) The decline of the young generation: A study has shown that currently about 5 million people in Bangladesh are directly and indirectly affected by this deadly addiction. It is very unfortunate that about 80 percent of this affected population is between the ages of 15 and 30. That is, at the age when they should have books, laptops or footballs in their hands; today, at that age, their fingers are busy gambling on the screen of smartphones. (b) Economic Bleeding: We often hear intellectuals discussing the dollar crisis and the reserve squeeze on big talk shows. But how many people reveal the real truth behind the scenes? According to the Bangladesh Bank's Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), around 10000 to 150000 crore taka is being smuggled abroad every year from this country through hundi and cryptocurrency. The country's money is being converted into dollars and goes into the pockets of gambling gangs in countries like Russia, Cyprus or Malaysia. This is like cutting the arteries of the national economy and sucking blood. (c) The stigma of mobile banking: Once upon a time, we used to proudly say that mobile banking has made the lives of our marginalized people easier. But what do we see today? Almost a million agents and personal accounts of popular services like bKash, Rocket or Nagad have today become illegal arenas for online gambling money transactions. On average, hundreds of crores of taka of gambling money are being transacted through this medium every day - which has put the country's banking sector at extreme risk. (d) New equation of crime: Gambling and crime are always like twins. A recent criminology survey found that the urge to pay off gambling debts is behind about 25 percent of robberies, teenage gang violence and thefts in urban areas. Even in middle-class and upper-class families, online gambling is responsible for about 15 percent of family unrest, quarrels and divorces.

Why did this pandemic spread so quickly? Behind it lies a deep capitalist conspiracy and the extreme indifference of our policymakers. Today, if you open social media, you can see that the country's famous cricketers, movie stars, and even the so-called 'social media influencers' are advertising these gambling apps with their chests full of pride. When the stars that a child wants to grow up watching, the same star tempts gambling, then the wall of morality breaks down and crumbles. Added to this is the easy availability of the internet and the extreme lack of employment. When a boy passes and does not get a job for years, the capitalist gambling cycle capitalizes on that despair that arises inside him. They make it clear, 'There is no need to work, you can become rich only with the power of intelligence.' This 'shortcut' or greed for the easy way is eating away at our society from within. Our brave freedom fighters fought with weapons in 1971 to establish a society free from discrimination, exploitation and exploitation. If today the youth of that society are putting their future on the gambling table, where is the spirit of that great liberation war? Just as fundamentalism drags our society towards darkness, this digital gambling is destroying the intellect and morality of our youth and creating a crippled generation.

So what is the way to liberation? Poet Rabindranath Tagore wrote, ‘Whoever does injustice and whoever tolerates injustice, let hatred burn at his very roots.’ Today is the time for the state to stand against this disease with all its strength. This epidemic cannot be stopped by just lip service or holding one or two seminars. First of all, online gambling should be considered a strict ‘cyber crime’ and life imprisonment or the maximum punishment should be provided for the main masterminds, agents inside the country and promoters involved in it. Secondly, BTRC (Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Authority of Bangladesh) should not remain a paper tiger. All gambling sites, proxy sites and apps should be permanently blocked in Bangladesh territory by making maximum use of technology. Thirdly, mobile banking service providers should be brought under strict accountability. If gambling money is transacted through any agent, then not only the license of that agent should be cancelled, but he should also be arrested as an accomplice in the crime.

However, it is hopeful that on June 30 (Tuesday), the ‘Gambling Prevention Act-2026’ was passed in the National Parliament. Through this new law, the almost 150-year-old ‘Jaab Chansharap Edhasanasraham Op, 1867’ has been repealed. The law defines a total of 24 types of issues including gambling, online gambling, remote gambling, betting (betting or betting), betting tax (betting), match fixing, spot fixing, digital gambling platforms, digital wallets, cryptocurrencies, fake SIMs, ghost SIMs, fake MFS accounts, mirror sites, VPNs. At the same time, 14 types of imprisonment, fines or both have been provided according to the type of crime. Even then, the law alone is not enough - its correct and active implementation is needed. Above all, we need to awaken family and social values. I would like to request parents, do not think that your responsibility ends just by buying your child an expensive smartphone. Keep an eye on what he is doing on the internet, who he is associating with, and whether his greed for money is suddenly increasing. The good air of culture must be brought back to every neighborhood. Playgrounds must be rescued, and the youth must be made book-oriented and culture-oriented.

History forgives no one. If we neglect this social cancer today, the next generation will hold us accountable. Do we want to be marked in history as the guardians of a gambling, unethical and crippled generation? Certainly not. Let us stand on this day and take this oath - let us build an impenetrable social fortress against this disastrous web of online gambling, regardless of party or opinion. The administration will be shown 'zero tolerance'. Only then will our young society survive, only then will the sacrifices of our predecessors be worthwhile, and only then will our beloved Bangladesh stand with its head held high.