Hypocrisy has been the name of the game when it comes to alcohol in India, particularly in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the father of the Indian nation, Mahatma Gandhi.
Any number of human deaths will not stop politicians and even the state’s denizens from swearing by the Gandhian way of being teetotalers and continuing to keep Gujarat a dry state, where the law bans storing, selling and transporting alcohol. And yet, 42 people died and 50 others remain in hospital in critical condition after consuming spurious liquor in Gujarat earlier this week.
The terrible human tragedy reported in Botad district — a repeat of the 2009 hooch tragedy in Ahmedabad in which 159 people died in similar circumstances — has yet again brought into focus the debate on prohibition.
Gujarat, since its foundation in 1960, adopted the policy of being a dry state as a mark of respect and tribute to Mahatma Gandhi.
Gandhi’s idea was influenced by his Hindu morals and Islamic scriptures that described liquor as evil. He regarded alcohol as a social evil, capable of adversely impacting the lives of humans of all classes. “Let’s not fool ourselves. It is time to come out of denial mode and accept the fact that Gujarat is not as dry as it claims to be”
Despite more than six decades of policing, the state has failed to stop a thriving bootlegging industry. Time and again it has been proved that Gujarat’s prohibition policy has been a sham, a farcical exercise.
The tragedy in Botad prompted former chief minister Shankersinh Vaghela to question the futility of prohibiting liquor. Does banning alcohol really benefit people? No, said Vaghela who wants the prohibition policy to be reviewed as early as possible. He wants to relax restrictions and legalize sales and distribution to reduce illicit supplies.
Vaghela also suggested this could provide economic opportunities for the state’s tribal people for whom liquor is not taboo, unlike mainstream society. “Let’s not fool ourselves. It is time to come out of denial mode and accept the fact that Gujarat is not as dry as it claims to be,” he said.