Image via WikipediaDNA India 10 Oct 2010 - Consumption of alcohol has gone up in the Kashmir valley over the last two years, a time when the valley went from being a relatively peaceful zone to a troubled spot, with curfew imposed in main cities and towns for the last few months.
Moreover, consumption of country-made liquor (fenny, toddy, arrack, etc) almost doubled from 0.05 lakh bottles to 0.09 lakh bottles in the years under consideration. This is a major change from the 1990s, when alcohol was not even available in the state.
In 1989, when militant-led violence broke out in Jammu and Kashmir, a little-known outfit, 'Allah Tigers', had enforced a ban on the sale of liquor throughout the Kashmir valley. The outfit even ransacked and looted liquor shops, forcing them to shut down in fear.
In 1996, when the National Conference came to power, it allowed the sale of liquor. But the fear of militants and the rise of radical Islam meant that through the later 1990s, both sales and consumption was little (Islam prohibits the consumption of alcohol). There were no liquor shops in the valley in 1990; now there are five shops and three clubs where liquor is sold.
Paradoxically, the latest rise in sales and consumption comes at a time when there has been a resurgence of separatist sentiments across the valley. A non-governmental organisation (NGO), Forum Against Social Evils (FASE), said the increased consumption merely coincided with the tourist season. Parvez Maqbool Shah, general secretary, FASE, said, "It would have been better if the government had legislated to ban liquor."
The government has, however, ruled out imposing a total ban, saying it is not possible to do so in the state with a diverse population.
"But excessive liquor consumption is a social evil and injurious to health," J&K finance minister Abdur Rahim Rather said recently in the assembly.
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