A Catholic politician’s demand that the state government in Tamil Nadu keep liquor shops closed on Good Friday has triggered a backlash on social media.
Peter Alphonse, the chairperson of Tamil Nadu Minorities Commission, wrote to Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on March 3 urging him to close all government liquor shops on April 15.
He said the liquor shops should be closed as a mark of respect and solidarity with the Christian community, which commemorates on Good Friday the passion and death of Jesus Christ with fasting and abstinence.
Alphonse made the letter public on social media on March 9, triggering an immediate backlash from netizens and politicians who described it variously as “unnecessary” and a “bad idea.”
Even the supporters of Indian National Congress, the party to which Alphonse belongs, slammed the idea as “crazy.”
Social media users called his demand for keeping liquor shops closed “arbitrary” and tantamount to “imposing unnecessary restrictions” on other communities who do not adhere to his religious beliefs. However, Alphonse found support from Savukku Shankar, a prominent political critic.
Shankar, who has more than 200,000 followers on Twitter, told that “the minorities in this country are pushed to such a situation as they continue to lose faith in the state and look towards religion for safety.”
“This is a failure of the state. Unless they are reassured they will further go into a shell. I understand them, so I have no grievance against Mr. Alphonse’s letter,” he added.