More BJP Lawmakers Defend Tobacco, Former Health Minister A Ramadoss Says They Have 'Low Acumen'

New Delhi:

Another BJP parliamentarian joined the "smoking is not dangerous" brigade on Friday. "I knew two elderly people. They used to smoke 60 cigarettes per day and also drink a bottle of alcohol daily," he said, "but one died at the age of 86, the other is still alive. So whether smoking is cancerous or not is debatable," said Ram Prasad Sarmah, the BJP lawmaker from Assam, claiming the instance is an undeniable proof that there was no connection between tobacco and cancer.

Mr Sarmah, 60, has become the third parliamentarian in as many days from the ruling BJP to side with the tobacco industry. These law-makers are on a parliamentary committee that has asked for more time to review the government's plans, to enforce larger pictorial warnings on cigarette packets starting April 1.

But many surveys and reports endorsed by the government of India clearly show the connection between tobacco and cancer. One report says almost 50 per cent of all cancer deaths are due to tobacco use and India has the highest number of oral cancer deaths, 90 per cent of which are due to tobacco consumption.

Another report of 2008 says 53 per cent of tobacco consumption is through bidis which are more likely to cause heart diseases than cigarettes. It also says bidi smoking causes more than half the number of tobacco related tuberculosis deaths.

Former Health Minister Dr Ambumani Ramadoss has lashed out at the ill-informed MPs on the panel. "Foolish statements like this should be avoided by members of Parliament. We should not be put to shame in the global arena. All these utterances has pulled down India in the global front. People globally think that members of Parliament in India have low acumen because of these utterances of few members," he told NDTV.

In a country where the government's own data shows that the 5500 children take to tobacco consumption every day and a million people die from tobacco related diseases every year, the panel's views and the government's silence are certainly injurious to public health.