NC softens stand on liquor ban in J&K after BJP protest

SRINAGAR: A day after BJP staged a protest outside chief minister Omar Abdullah’s residence demanding complete prohibition in Kashmir Valley, governing National Conference (NC) softened its stand on the issue and promised to ban liquor sale and consumption in J&K. Omar and NC president Farooq Abdullah had earlier rejected calls for liquor ban in the UT. On Saturday, however, NC chief spokesperson and the legislator Tanvir Sadiq said “alcohol will be banned in J&K and the NC govt will do it”. Responding to media persons’ queries on BJP’s threat to launch a hunger strike to press for its demand, he said “irrespective of BJP’s drama on the issue”, the NC govt would take a decision soon. The party appears to be on the backfoot now, even though spokespersons and senior functionaries maintained that it was not NC govt which had brought the current excise policy that allowed establishing liquor shops all across Jammu and Kashmir. “I think in the next Assembly session, the issue would be debated, discussed and finalised,” NC spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said. “Already many private members have brought bills seeking liquor ban in the previous session of the assembly. These bills are likely to come up in the next session and they will be decided,” he added, hinting that NC is likely to support a private member’s bill on alcohol ban. The change in stance came after BJP’s protest on Friday. The party said it would launch protests from Qazigund town in south Kashmir to Karnah area on the Line of Control in the north, if the NC govt failed to act. The CM had earlier stoked a row as liquor shops were meant for those who were allowed by their religion to consume alcohol, and that nobody was forced to drink against their will. Rejecting PDP’s criticism , he said allowing liquor sale did not amount to encouraging alcohol consumption. Farooq, too, spoke out, saying even his father, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, had rejected then PM Morarji Desai’s call to impose liquor ban in 1977, as it generated substantial revenue. The NC president said enforcing prohibition in J&K won’t stop tipplers from smuggling it from outside. The debate on liquor ban started after LG Manoj Sinha launched a 100-day drive against drugs on April 11, which prompted PDP and BJP to demand that it should be extended to liquor sales, too.