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To Wet Or Not To
…….
That prohibition has never worked in any part of the world goes without saying and Manipur is no exception. Manipur came under the dry spell on April 1, 1991 during the tenure of RK Ranbir following intense pressure from various social organizations including the Meira Paibis. The state has been under prohibition for the last decade or so. However as records and everything before us show, this Act has not led to the decrease in the consumption of alcohol and far from it, some have even gone to the extent of stating that alcohol consumption is on the rise.
What, however, cannot be disputed is the point that the State exchequer has been losing a tidy sum by way of revenue collection through the sale of alcohol. It is with this argument that the Congress led Secular Progressive Front Government has decided to go ahead and implement the provisions of the MoU signed between the State Government and the Center to start the process of lifting prohibition from the State.
It was only on July 30, during the monsoon session of the Assembly that the Manipur Liquor Prohibition (Amendment) Bill, 2002 was passed paving the way for prohibition to be lifted from the five hill districts of Manipur. The Opposition did not take the proposal to lift prohibition from the hills lying down and walked out forcing the Government to pass the Bill without the participation of the Opposition. Expectedly, a hue cry was raised by a number of civil societies and voluntary organizations from the hills decrying the ‘step motherly’ treatment of the Government and some had even questioned whether there is an ulterior motive behind the decision of the SPF regime to lift the Act from only the hills while leaving out the valley.
A number of student bodies of Churachandpur had even organized a public meeting to condemn the decision of the Government and in an unprecedented manner had even decided to boycott the Independence Day celebration. Now the prospects appear to have percolated down to the valley districts have started coming out in the open to oppose the decision of the Government to lift prohibition.
We are sure these developments must be giving Chief Minister O Ibobi and his Cabinet colleagues sleepless nights. We know prohibition has not worked and it is even clearer to all that given the acute financial crisis besetting the State, the revenue that can be generated from lifting prohibition will surely be needed. However despite the reality lying before our eyes, we see the opposition to the proposal to lift prohibition gaining strength by the day. Why is this so? The answer, we believe lies on the premise that the voluntary organizations are against the official sanctioning to sell and consume liquor and the reason is not far to seek.
A little jog down memory lane will remind us that prohibition was imposed when the ills associated with alcoholism had reached a crescendo and there were stories galore of broken homes and domestic violence because of alcoholism. Moreover a number of youngsters had started taking to drinks well before they had crossed adolescence or attained adulthood. Before the advent of Meira Paibis there was the nisha bandh movement launched by women folks to fight the scourge of alcohol abuse and meanwhile the consumption was clamped. The other negative and ugly factors associated with alcoholism seem to be on the wane.
It is the apprehension that the past nightmare may just rear its ugly head again that has prompted a number of voluntary organizations and Meira Paibis to take to the streets and demand a roll back on the decision to lift prohibition. With the heat on the Chief Minister and his Cabinet colleagues rising, O Ibobi may just realize that he has bitten off more than he can chew. Remember RK Ranbir was first pressurized to impose prohibition and there is no reason to believe that the same pressure would not be mounted again.
(Courtesy: The
Sangai Express)
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