SRINAGAR: Ruling National Conference (NC) president and former union minister Dr Farooq Abdullah Tuesday joined the debate over whether liquor should be banned in Jammu and Kashmir, saying his father, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, had refused to impose such a ban in 1977 as it generated substantial revenue for the erstwhile state.“Look, I don’t drink alcohol. Those who want to drink will continue to drink. If they don’t get it here, they will bring it from outside. What can you do about it? And those who are making noise over this issue, ask them who is actually drinking alcohol,” the NC president told reporters here.He said that when former Prime Minister Morarji Desai, a staunch opponent of alcohol consumption, visited Kashmir after Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah’s victory in the 1977 election, he had urged the latter to ban liquor. “My father told him, ‘I do not drink, but if you compensate us for the revenue we earn from it, then we will ban liquor.’ Even today, if the government of India compensates us, I am sure the government will ban liquor in two minutes,” he said. Dr Farooq also hit back at critics, saying the NC government had not opened liquor shops in the Union Territory.“We did not open these liquor shops. Why did these people not raise their voice when liquor shops were opened in J&K? Why was there no protest when such shops were coming up in every village? They have nothing else to do except point fingers,” he said, adding that the opposition’s tactics would fail and the NC would “defeat them”.The current controversy over liquor sales was triggered by J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who on Monday said liquor shops in the Union Territory were meant for people whose religion permitted alcohol consumption and that “no one is being forced” to visit them.Omar’s statement came amid Lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha’s ongoing 100-day “Nasha Mukt J&K Abhiyan”, with some sections arguing that the anti-drug campaign should also extend to liquor sales.The PDP representative Iltija Mufti targeted Omar over his statements stating his claims it’s wrong to impose a ban “on Hindus consuming alcohol since their religion doesn’t forbid it” then “how have Hindu majority states like Gujarat and Bihar banned alcohol successfully without a whimper?” Iltija sought a complete ban on alcohol in J&K. NC MP Aga Ruhullah also said that liquor shops should not exist, stating that shutting liquor shops would automatically block access to alcohol.Last year’s Economic survey report submitted in the Assembly said “The UT government has strengthened the e-Abgari platform for tracking the supply chain, notified the new excise policy, and conducted transparent auctions in allotment of liquor vends. Hence the excise revenue is increasing by 4% and is expected to reach Rs.2000 crores in 2024-25.”The government’s new excise policy released on Feb 15, 2025 says that the policy provides choice of “liquor brands and places for consumption to its consumers and provides a level playing field to all stakeholders.”The fierce political debate has started at a time when LG Manoj Sinha is campaigning for the Nasha Mukt J&K Abhiyan. On April 11, Sinha launched a 100-day intensive drive under the Nasha Mukt Abhiyan to make Jammu and Kashmir “drug-free.” The campaign has included large-scale awareness programs by the civil administration and police, destruction of poppy cultivation, random urine testing of drivers, and intensified crackdowns on drug networks.According to a police figure, the Nasha Mukt J&K Abhiyan has led to the registration of 614 FIRs and the arrest of 646 people. The authorities have also demolished 37 houses allegedly linked to drug peddlers. However, the demolition of properties has come under sharp criticism from Minister of Health Sakina Itoo. Itoo argues that there are more drug addicts in Jammu rather than in Kashmir. “Then why all this (demolishing of houses) is happening only in Kashmir,” Itoo said, adding “if a child is addicted to drugs, our responsibility is to rehabilitate him. If a property is in the father’s name, why should it be demolished or seized,” Itoo said.
