𓆏As three legislators from three different political parties have brought separate bills seeking a ban on liquor in Jammu and Kashmir, religious clerics have come forward in support of the bills.
♋However, others are questioning the rationale of a bill brought by a ruling legislator saying the government should ban liquor if they desire so rather than creating a debate about the issue through a private members' bill.
ꦗThe three Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs)- Mir Mohammad Fayaz, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) MLA from Kupwara, Sheikh Khursheed Ahmad, the Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) MLA from Langate, and Ahsan Pardesi, the National Conference (NC) MLA from Lal Chowk submitted separate private members’ bills seeking a ban on liquor in J&K.
𝓡The move has been hailed by several religious groups. Maulana Ghulam Rasool Hami, the founder of Qaravan Islam International, a Sufi religious organization, urged other members of the Assembly to support these bills. Hami said this time these bills should be passed as liquor consumption is not helping anyone in J&K and it has not promoted tourism in the region. He said like Bihar and Gujarat; alcohol sales and consumption should be banned in Jammu and Kashmir.
꧋In October 2022, the Administrative Council (AC) chaired by Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha approved authorizing departmental stores to sell beer and other ready-to-drink beverages in urban areas. The move gave a flip to liquor sales in Jammu and Kashmir.
The BJP leader and J&K Waqf Board chairperson Darkshan Andrabi told Outlook꧙ that youth must be protected from the menace of drugs including liquor. She said bills seeking a ban on liquor are fine but it has to be seen whether they will be tabled in the Assembly. She said she reserves her opinion on bills but insisted if the govt would have brought the bill then she would have talked about it.
▨"These are the private member bills and I don't know whether they will be tabled," she added.
🍒“Alcohol consumption is ravaging lives across J&K & presents a grave threat to the very fabric of our society. Since 2019 the issue has been compounded by its easy availability because of the mushrooming of liquor stores,” PDP leader Iltija Mufti said, hailing her own party’s MLA introducing a private bill seeking a ban on alcohol consumption.
🦋NC legislator from Lal Chowk, Ahsan Pardesi said that the unchecked sale of alcohol disregards the religious and cultural ethos of Kashmir. Pardesi further added that "Kashmir’s Sufi-Reshi traditions" are against alcohol consumption and it has never been "an intrinsic part of the Valley’s social fabric, making its presence an anomaly.”
ꦫ“Alcohol contributes to crime, moral decline, and addiction, particularly among the youth. Alcohol is not merely a personal indulgence; its repercussions reverberate across society. At a time when we are already grappling with a severe drug crisis, facilitating access to alcohol will only exacerbate the problem,” he added. The bill, if allowed, will come up for discussion in the upcoming Assembly session starting from March 3.
🦩Awami Ittehad Party leader, MLA from Langate, and brother of MP Engineer Rashid, Sheikh Khursheed, said that he was the first MLA to submit a private members’ bill seeking a complete ban on liquor. Usmaan Majid, former MLA said if the ruling party comes up with a bill about liquor ban it is more to create a debate rather than a serious attempt.
💛"The ruling party has a brute majority. If they want, the government can bring a bill and pass it too," he said, adding the government wants to create debate about it through a private members bill to distract people from other issues.
🐲BJP leader and former president Ravinder Raina has been vocal against liquor sales in J&K.
On Jan 31, 2018, then BJP 𒆙president Ravinder Raina had demanded in the J & K Assembly that Jammu and Kashmir be declared a dry state and that alcohol and bars be banned immediately. Raina had insisted that a ban should be imposed immediately in border areas, which he called the “first line of defense for the country and where militants move in.”
꧅In 2023 when liquor shops started opening in Jammu and Kashmir, Raina stated that people were angry over the opening of liquor shops in various districts and insisted that these liquor shops shouldn’t be opened.
