Hasnat Abdullah, chief organiser of the National Citizen Party’s southern region and a lawmaker, has blamed institutional failures, including those of the home ministry, for forcing State Minister for Liberation War Affairs Ishraq Hossain to take to the streets armed during an anti-drug drive.Hasnat said removing Ishraq from office would only divert attention from the underlying institutional failures and the need to ensure accountability. In a Facebook post on Monday, the NCP leader questioned why a state minister had to personally take part in an armed anti-drug operation when law enforcement agencies were responsible for tackling narcotics.Even as a state minister, why did Mr Ishraq Hossain have to take to the streets himself, armed, to fight drugs? The government must answer this question, he wrote. He said the incident raised serious questions about the effectiveness of the police and the Department of Narcotics Control, both under the home ministry.Had the agencies responsible for controlling drugs performed their duties properly, a state minister would not have needed to take to the field himself, Hasnat said. He added that responsibility for the situation did not rest solely with Ishraq but also with the relevant authorities and the home minister.Will removing a minister solve the problem?Hasnat questioned whether removing a state minister from office could be considered a solution to the problem. If removing a state minister is considered the solution, how will accountability of state institutions be ensured? he asked.Pointing to what he described as weaknesses in state oversight and management, Hasnat also referred to an incident in which the prime minister had to visit a hospital and inspect its toilet facilities. Similar questions arise when the prime minister has to visit a hospital to inspect its toilet. If the responsible state institutions were functioning properly, why would the prime minister need to do that? he wrote.Warns against shifting blameHasnat accused the government of attempting to manage crises by making individuals scapegoats rather than addressing institutional failures. He warned that if such failures eventually drove people onto the streets, the government would have to answer whom it would ask to resign to escape responsibility.In the concluding part of his post, Hasnat criticised Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, alleging that Ishraq and others were being made scapegoats for the minister’s failures.Ultimately, people like Mr Ishraq Hossain will have to bear the brunt of the failures of Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, who has been convicted in cases involving land-grabbing, corruption and bribery, he wrote.