Stealing from thyself: Ganja farmers reminisce of the old days
In the bygone days when ganja cultivation was as legal as paddy, Naogaon was the most famous ganja-producing district in Bangladesh. The government banned ganja cultivation in 1987. Some of the former ganja farmers retell stories from their days of glory
Have you ever seen armed security patrol croplands?
Strange as it may sound, back in the day, in Naogaon's enormous ganja fields, police, Ansar and farmers would indeed patrol all day long. They would guard the ganja plants against thieves and bandits.
Because ganja, after all, was a lucrative product susceptible to theft.
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In the bygone days when ganja cultivation was as legal as paddy, Naogaon was the most famous ganja-producing district in Bangladesh. If you follow the news, chances are you have already heard about the district's famous Ganja Cultivators (Shareholder) Rehabilitation Cooperative Society, which still sits on huge wealth.
The police and Ansar would stay in thatched houses. The farmers would stay in their little huts in the fields. But still, the ganja plants would often get stolen.
Idris Ali Akhand, a former ganja farmer in Baktarpur Bazar told The Business Standard he himself fought and caught a bandit on a winter night back in the day when he was "young and strong."
"The bandit had learned his lessons that day," elderly Idris Ali said. Idris Ali partially lost his eyesight recently, but his face was beaming with excitement from telling the tale of his yesteryears. Most of the former ganja farmers get very excited when they remember those days.
Thieves and bandits, however, were not the biggest enemy when it came to ganja theft.
"It was the farmers themselves," said Anisur Rahman, a former ganja farmer who now works as an office assistant at Naogaon Ganja Cultivators (Shareholder) Rehabilitation Cooperative Society.
Ganja farming in its entirety, in Naogaon, was supervised by the government, from production to sale, through the Ganja Society. The Society had absolute monopoly, on behalf of the government, to purchase ganja.
"The price offered for the cannabis by the government varied from the market. The market price was much higher. So, the farmers would steal their own ganja," Anisur said.
These stories of ganja cultivation, theft and the bravery of fighting the bandits off are at least 35 years old. The government banned ganja cultivation in 1987 in line with an anti-narcotic international agreement signed in 1974.
But ages after the ban, the discussion of cannabis still dominates the tea stalls in the alleys of Naogaon villages where farmers once produced the high-yielding cash crop.
The mention of ganja days still works like magic to engage elderly farmers like Idris Ali, Anisur Rahman or Shamsul Haque Pramanik, into an animated discussion.
In Baktarpur Bazar, it was lunch hour and Idris' son was waiting for him to end our conversation to have lunch. But Idris shut him down with a loud snub. His friend Shamsul Haque Pramanik, a former union parishad member, followed up with another snub.
The discussion was on.
"Suppose I have cultivated ganja on 15 Katha land. If I steal five Katha land's ganja, I might go to jail. But still, I wouldn't need to earn a living for the next three years based on the sale of the stolen ganja in the outside market," Idris said.
His friend Shamsul Haque interrupted him saying, "Suppose I produced 15 mounds of ganja. If I could steal only three mounds from the government and sell it to the outside market, that would earn me three times more than the 12 mounds sold to the government."
"So why would they not steal?" Idris said. "People would bribe the peons and guards to steal plants from their own lands at night. When top-level officials visited the fields the next morning, they were told it was some bandits' work. Many people served prison time for stealing ganja."
Why didn't the farmers ask the government to raise prices instead?
"Why would they? The farmers' profit was balanced out after stealing," the farmer duo broke out in laughter.
However, before Idris Ali could get to another cheeky tale, Pramanik stopped him.
"Listen, son, people back then were honest. Even if they stole, they were honest and brave," Pramanik said, adding, "It was not like all the farmers did steal."
'No ganja like ours'
The soil for ganja cultivation has to be loamy. It should be on high land, but not too high, as it must have an irrigation system.
"Ganja used to be cultivated in designated areas. We would cultivate it with a government licence," Anisur Rahman said.
"Ganjas don't come from leaves like tobacco. It used to be produced from flowers. And the flowers too are different in male (morda) and female (merdi) plants. The male plant has more seeds, while the female plants blossom with flowers.
"The plants would be seeded in a line, like potatoes. Expert farmers would check the flowers. These experts were called poddar. They would wipe out the male plants," Anisur said. "It was a major activity."
"Finally the ganja would be categorised on quality, and priced accordingly. You would not find ganja like ours anywhere," he added.
Ganja farmers' disappointed with present-day drug abusers
'You gonna smoke the ganja in many different ways,' Bob Marley famously quipped in his song Ganja Gun. Marley and his music is widely associated with weed. But did he know you could eat ganja seeds like fried rice?
Fried ganja seeds was a fairly popular dish among Naogaon's ganja farmers back in the day. "Ganja seed fries are very tasty and intoxicating," Pramanik said. "If you can apply mustard oil on ganja seeds and eat it, you will realise you have had nothing like that in your entire life."
Both Pramanik, Idris and Anisur are strong advocates of ganja. They believe ganja was highly beneficial and profitable and it was banned because of an "international conspiracy" to deprive Bangladesh of a cash crop.
Don't you think it could damage our youth if it was not banned?
"Look, in our time, ganja was consumed by the elderlies, and strong men… not by unhealthy teenagers like these days. They smoke adulterated products. These kids are miserable, disappointing," Pramanik said.
"Heroin, Yaba, phensedyl were not at such epidemic levels back in the days. They spread more after ganja was banned. Ganja is not as harmful as these," Anisur said.
"Ganja intoxicates a bit; only for a while. Back then ganja would be consumed by the saints, monks, and shrine singers. They have an art in their lifestyle," he added.
He said back in the day the government would provide licences for smoking ganja, like the current licence to drink alcoholic beverages. "It had discipline and order," Anisur said.
What if ganja was legal again?
What if Bangladesh legalises the ganja again following some Western countries?
"Personally I believe banning ganja was a wrong decision. It was a blessing for Naogaon. But in the current circumstance, ganja business would be hard to protect. The young people are unruly. Murders and criminal activities could spark like wildfire," Anisur said.
But Shamsul Haque Pramanik thinks differently, "there will be fanfare, joyous procession," he remarked in an upbeat tone.
Easier said than done. The drug landscape has altered significantly since the 1980s, and in the eyes of many, ganja poses a threat to public health and social order, as much as any other drug. Furthermore, illegal trade in ganja has thrived in the last three and a half decades.
Kamal Chowdhury, a professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Dhaka, said, "In countries where marijuana has been legalised, it must have been a well-thought-out decision based on evidence-based practice. But even if it is legal, there are certain limitations in place: like how much a person can take, etc."
"Yes, cannabis has medicinal use. It is often used as pain killing medication. Its controlled usages perhaps are not very harmful. But the problem with any intoxicant is it leads to addiction, which has physical, psychological and social impacts."
On the questions of legalising cannabis, the clinical psychologist said, "If, at some point, it has to be legalised, enough research has to be done to ensure that no public harm ensues. If that cannot be ensured, let it be illegal the way it is now. Because we don't have the mechanism to control its misuses. It can only be legalised when we have the mechanism to control its misuse."
We reached out to Azizul Islam, Additional Directorate General of Departent of Narcotics Control to learn if attempts are made to cultiave ganja in other parts of the country.
He said that they don't have information of people attempting to cultivate ganja, however, "sometimes people plant a few plants secretly. They don't necessarily cultivate them. But whenever we receive such information, we take necessary steps."
