Farooq joins liquor debate, says even Sheikh Abdullah didn’t favour prohibition

SRINAGAR: National Conference (NC) president and erstwhile Union curate Dr Farooq Abdullah Tuesday joined the statement implicit whether liquor should beryllium banned successful Jammu and Kashmir, saying his father, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, had refused to enforce specified a prohibition successful 1977 arsenic it generated important gross for the UT (which was past a state).While Farooq claimed helium did not drink, helium added that banning liquor successful J&K won’t halt tipplers from smuggling it from outside. “Those who privation to portion volition proceed to drink. If they don’t get it here, they volition bring it from outside. What tin you bash astir it? And those who are making sound implicit this issue, inquire them who is really drinking alcohol,” the NC president told reporters.He recalled that erstwhile past PM Morarji Desai visited Kashmir aft Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah’s triumph successful the 1977 election, helium urged the second to prohibition liquor.

“My begetter told him, ‘I bash not drink, but if you compensate america for the gross we gain from it, past we volition prohibition liquor’. Even today, if the Govt of India compensates america (for the gross loss), I americium definite (J&K) govt volition prohibition liquor,” helium said.Hitting backmost astatine critics, Farooq said the NC govt had not opened liquor shops. “Why didn’t these radical rise their dependable erstwhile liquor shops were opened successful J&K? Why was determination nary protestation erstwhile specified shops were coming up successful each village? They person thing other to bash but constituent fingers,” helium said.

Kashmir’s main cleric, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, however, said govt’s run against narcotics volition lone win erstwhile liquor is banned. “We are not demanding thing unusual. There are states wherever intoxicant is banned, and it tin beryllium done successful J&K arsenic well,” Mirwaiz said.LG Manoj Sinha had launched a 100-day thrust against drugs connected April 11, which led to demands from assorted quarters that it should beryllium extended to liquor sales.BJP, too, came retired successful enactment of prohibition, with the party’s erstwhile J&K portion main Ravinder Rana Tuesday saying “we privation drugs and liquor to beryllium banned”.CM Omar Abdullah had connected Sunday rejected calls for bringing successful prohibition successful J&K, and dismissed the opposition’s arguments that it amounted to encouraging intoxicant consumption.