Jammu-Srinagar diocese has joined civil society groups to demand a ban on alcohol in India’s only Muslim-majority state of Jammu Kashmir. Mufti Nasirul Islam, the state’s chief Islamic jurist, along with prominent civil society activists, called on the state government to ban liquor in the state within three months and they also reminded that if the government fails to meet this deadline, there will be large-scale protests and agitation.
As reported by ucanindia.in, Fr. Saiju Chacko, Diocesan spokesperson, remarked that “Local church people support the ban, they also want the government to educate and make people aware of the hazardous effects of liquor consumption, and alcohol has been breaking up families and making poor people poorer.”
The demand to ban the liquor in the state came after the government shelved a plan to set up a liquor shop at the state’s main airport but the government anyway withdrew the plan following the widespread protests from Islamic parties.
