Make J&K dry like Gujarat: Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz | India News

SRINAGAR: Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq referred to as Friday for J&Ok to be made a “dry state like Gujarat” as he opposed authorities’ transfer to open extra liquor retailers, claiming such steps had been “a deliberate attempt to push our youths further into addiction”.“J&K is a Muslim-majority region and sale and consumption of liquor is against Islam’s tenets,” Mirwaiz mentioned throughout Friday prayers at Srinagar’s Jamia Masjid. The set off was a protest the day past by locals in Srinagar’s Batmaloo in opposition to the opening of a liquor store within the space that had not seen such retailers for many years.“If Gujarat can be declared a dry state, there is no reason why J&K should be exempted,” Mirwaiz mentioned. This was the primary name to protest in latest months on any challenge from Mirwaiz, who can also be chief cleric of Kashmir and has been put in house detention forward of Friday prayers on many events prior to now few months.Mirwaiz urged the state’s Omar Abdullah-led National Conference govt and lieutenant-governor Manoj Sinha to test the development. “If govt does not act, we will be forced to protest. This isn’t a minor issue,” Mirwaiz mentioned.Authorities have linked the brand new liquor licences and retailers to a spurt in tourism for the reason that 2019 abrogation of J&Ok’s particular standing underneath Article 370. In the case of Batmaloo, excise officers claimed the store, now shut after the agitation, was not a brand new one and had been solely relocated from one other space.Despite such opposition, J&Ok’s alcohol gross sales are on the rise. The Omar-led govt’s financial survey earlier this yr estimated excise revenues at Rs 2,000 crore in 2024-25, up 4% over the earlier yr.Mirwaiz rejected the argument that liquor gross sales had been needed for tourism, mentioning that J&Ok had welcomed guests for hundreds of years with out selling alcohol. “Has J&K become a tourist spot only after 2019 (Article 370 abrogation)? For hundreds of years, tourists have visited us but liquor was never promoted on this scale in every locality,” Mirwaiz mentioned.Drawing a comparability with Gujarat, Mirwaiz confused that alcohol was banned there because of its impression on society and requested why comparable issues weren’t legitimate for J&Ok. “Don’t we have a society? Don’t we have to live here, too,” Mirwaiz mentioned.According to him, over 1 lakh folks in J&Ok are already affected by drug dependancy and govt’s fillip to alcohol gross sales will solely irritate the disaster.Some native Kashmiri Pandits led by an activist, Sandeep Mawa, had just lately demanded a ban on liquor gross sales within the Valley. In March this yr, PDP MLA Fayaz Ahmad Mir had launched a personal member’s invoice looking for such a ban throughout J&Ok. But the invoice was not taken up for dialogue or voting within the meeting. BJP, too, has expressed help for the ban, with former J&Ok celebration chief Ravinder Raina having led protests on the problem earlier.