The Catholic Church revived its protest against the liquor policy of the Left government with a day-long fast in Kochi on Wednesday.
The government has decided to reopen 1,610 toddy shops closed down during the previous regime for want of entrepreneurs
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Catholic Church revived its protest against the liquor policy of the Left government with a day-long fast in Kochi on Wednesday. The fast, led by Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Conference (KCBC) Temperance Commission chairman Joshua Mar Ignatios, was a prelude to an intensified state-wide campaign against the new liquor policy, the church warned.
Thiruvananthapuram Archbishop M Susai Pakiam said that the church would oppose any move to expand the toddy shop network in the state from the excise year starting April 1. “The government and the drinkers know that Kerala does not produce enough toddy to satisfy even half the toddy shops in the state. The government wants the people to drink toddy adulterated with spirit,” he said.
The ruling Left Democratic Front came in for criticism for its decision to reopen 1,610 of the 2,000 odd toddy shops closed down during the previous Congress-led government.
“We have come to know that the new liquor policy intends to reduce the cut-off distance (from educational institutions and places of worship) to 200 metres. We will oppose it tooth and nail,” the bishop said.
The government has decided to reopen 1,610 toddy shops closed down during the previous regime for want of entrepreneurs. The KCBC, which has been demanding phased prohibition in the state, says more toddy shops meant more illicit liquor. The body has threatened to sit in dharna in front of district collectorate to press the government to reverse its liquor policy.
“Instead of discouraging drinking, the government is spreading the tentacles of liquor lobby. We will not allow the government to reopen the closed toddy shops,” Susai Pakiam said. The KCBC also wants the government to include awareness programmes against liquor and narcotic substance in school curricula.
But the clergy finds little support from the laity when it comes to abstention. Despite a call by the Catholic clergy to abstain from alcohol last Christmas, Kerala State Beverages Corporation saw its returns rise sharply on Christmas eve and Christmas, the high-selling festival days. The state monopoly pocketed Rs29 crore from liquor sales on December 24 and 25 as against Rs22 crore the previous year. On Christmas day, guzzlers in the southern state shelled out Rs11.14 crore on drinks as against Rs9.3 crore the previous Christmas.
Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil of the Syro-Malabar Church and many other church leaders had exhorted the faithful to keep away from drinking last Christmas. The cardinal had sent circular to the churches under the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese preaching a Christmas sans liquor. Curiously, a KSBC outlet in Chalakkudi, a Christian-dominated area under the nose of the cardinal, retained lead with its record-breaking sale of Rs15.05 lakh on December 24 and Rs8.47 lakh on December 25.
s_don@dnaindia.net
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