SRINAGAR: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged a protest outside the residence of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday, calling for a ban on liquor sales in the Kashmir Valley. The BJP indicated that it plans to extend its protest campaign from Qazigund in southern Kashmir to the Karnah area along the Line of Control in northern Kashmir if the National Conference government does not take action.
BJP leader Altaf Thakur stated, “BJP is against all forms of drugs and alcohol consumption. The NC government aims to push the youth of J&K toward alcohol.” Thakur condemned statements made by National Conference officials in support of liquor availability, asserting that “Kashmir is the land of sages, and we will not permit liquor shops in this region.”
General Secretary of the BJP, Anwar Khan, who also joined the protest, suggested that if Chief Minister Abdullah and NC President Farooq Abdullah were concerned about the revenue from liquor sales, BJP members would “sit outside mosques and beg for money” instead of allowing anyone to jeopardize the youth’s future.
Protesters raised questions about Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha’s 100-day initiative against drugs, expressing confusion over why liquor sales were not included in the campaign. Police intervened swiftly, dispersing the protestors from the CM’s residence. BJP spokesperson Sajid Yousuf Shah confirmed that approximately ten protesters, including himself, were detained by police but released after about an hour.
In previous statements, CM Abdullah rejected calls for a liquor ban in J&K, countering the People’s Democratic Party’s assertions that allowing liquor sales encourages alcohol consumption. Farooq Abdullah supported this view, noting that his father, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, had declined a ban in 1977, citing substantial revenue generation for the region at that time. He added, “Even today, if the Government of India compensates us for the revenue loss, I am sure the J&K government will ban liquor.” Farooq also mentioned that, despite his own abstinence from drinking, a ban would not prevent individuals from smuggling alcohol from outside the region.
Lieutenant Governor Sinha’s drug initiative, launched on April 11, has led to heightened calls for its expansion to include alcoholic beverages. Meanwhile, National Conference spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar stated that it was the PDP-BJP government’s decision in 2017 to implement an excise policy mandating liquor shops in “unserved and underserved areas.”
