Kashmir’s chief cleric and Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq today warned of protests if the Jammu and Kashmir government fails to intervene in the opening of a liquor shop in Srinagar’s Batamaloo area, which has sparked widespread outrage among local traders and residents.
The traders in Batamaloo today held a peaceful protest against the opening of the wine shop in the area.
In his Friday address at the historic Jamia mosque in Srinagar Mirwaiz said, “A notice by the Batmaloo traders and business community stated that they are closing down shops for three days to protest the opening of a liquor shop in the area, asking the authorities to intervene and take immediate action.”
“This is very disturbing and totally unacceptable to the people of Kashmir. It is an assault on our religious, cultural and societal ethos, and a complete disregard for it – a deliberate attempt to ruin our people and our future generations. Already we are grappling with the menace of drug addiction and now the authorities are promoting liquor to further ruin the people and our societal and cultural fabric,” Mirwaiz said.
He said the authorities know “fully well that J&K being a Muslim majority state, consumption of liquor is against the tenets of Islam and against the cultural and societal values and yet it is being promoted”.
“Why don’t they promote it in Gujarat which is a declared dry state – why J&K? Hasn’t tourism flourished here for decades without liquor, as this is the common ridiculous argument made?,” he said
Mirwaiz asked Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to immediately intervene and ensure that this action is stopped.
“It is their duty to ensure that such proposals are nipped in the bud itself. If they fail, then the ulemas, civil society and people in general will have no option but to protest and come out against it,” he added.
