Srinagar: The ruling National Conference (NC) is facing a severe backlash for its volte face on the Bills being introduced in the upcoming assembly session which seek to ban the sale and consumption of liquor in Jammu and Kashmir.
Moderate Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq waded into the controversy on Sunday (16 February) and condemned the NC leader Tanvir Sadiq for justifying the sale of liquor in the Muslim majority region under the garb of tourism, forcing him to backtrack on the issue.
“If you can’t do good to our people, at least stop harming our morals and our values for god’s sake,” the Mirwaiz said on the sidelines of an interfaith event in central Kashmir’s Budgam district, “Already hundreds and thousands of youngsters have become victims of drug abuse. Where do you (NC) want to drag our society?”
He added: “Even in India there are some states where alcohol is banned. Instead of following their model, they (NC leaders) are talking about generating revenue by selling alcohol in a Muslim majority region which is regrettable and I condemn it”.
The case for liquor permit
The Hurriyat leader was reacting to a statement by Sadiq who last week sought to justify the sale of liquor in Jammu and Kashmir by saying that many countries in the Arab world were permitting liquor for tourists.
“We have to take all the stakeholders like the travel agents association and others on board. If we ban liquor, what kind of impact is it going to have on tourism? All of us are collectively against it (liquor) but we have to see other factors as well,” Sadiq said on Friday.
Mirwaiz, however, alleged that no stakeholder of Jammu and Kashmir has been consulted by the chief minister Omar Abdullah’s government on the issue.
The opposition, civil society and some prominent citizens of J&K also criticised the ruling party for its volte face and linking tourism with liquor consumption, saying that the tourism industry doesn’t need liquor to survive.
“It is a fallacious argument to link tourism with liquor. Last year, at least 18.59 crore tourists visited Gujarat which is a dry state. Of these, 23.43 lakh were foreign tourists. In comparison, only three million tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir in 2024 of whom nearly 43000 were foreign tourists,” said Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Waheed Parra.
The consumption of alcohol is also prohibited in Bihar, Gujarat, Nagaland, and Mizoram and the union territory of Lakshadweep.
According to reports, lieutenant-governor Manoj Sinha’s administration is planning to set up 187 liquor shops in J&K, including in Kashmir. Last year, J&K’s excise department collected more than Rs 2000 crore in revenue from the sale of liquor.
The case for a liquor ban
At least three private members’ Bills are set to be tabled in the upcoming assembly session which seek to ban the consumption and sale of liquor in Jammu and Kashmir, one of which has been submitted by the ruling party legislator from Lal Chowk constituency, Ahsan Pardesi.
The PDP MLA from Kupwara, Mir Mohammad Fayaz and Awami Ittehad Party legislator from Langate, Sheikh Khursheed Ahmad have also submitted separate bills for a ban on alcohol in Jammu and Kashmir.
The issue of liquor ban has also got support of the saffron party with senior Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) leader and Waqf Board chairperson Darakhshan Andrabi welcoming the Bills.
“If a bill addressing the issues (of liquor consumption) is introduced, it would be a good step. We need to protect young people from drug abuse,” she said.
Also read: Beneath Political Turmoil, Kashmir Struggles With Drug Abuse
Another senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister of J&K, Nirmal Singh said that the consumption of liquor was posing a “serious threat” to Jammu and Kashmir.
“I fully support…a ban on alcohol in Jammu and Kashmir. The BJP has never supported alcohol consumption and wherever our government is in power, we have taken strong measures against it. The open sale and use of alcohol near schools, temples, and mosques is a serious threat to our society,” he said.
Last week, the J&K wing of Shiv Sena (UBT) also staged a protest in Jammu to demand a Bill banning liquor in the Union Territory in the upcoming session of the assembly, which is scheduled to start from March 3.
“J&K is the land of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi, Shri Amarnath Dham, Hazratbal Dargah, Gurdwara Kalgidhar Sahib and Tapo Asthana. Sadly, our religious faith is being hurt by the sale of liquor. Jammu, the city of temples, has been turned into a city of alcohol with liquor shops everywhere,” J&K wing of Shiv Sena (UBT), Manish Sahni, said.
The demand for ban on liquor consumption in the Muslim majority Jammu and Kashmir dates back to the times of the NC founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah who is also reported to have opposed such a move, arguing that it could reduce tourist footfall.
In 2015 when the PDP-BJP government was in power, a public interest litigation was filed in J&K high court demanding a ban on the sale and consumption of liquor in the Union territory. Although the court had directed the government to respond within seven days, the fate of the PIL remains unknown.
