Opposition parties object to J&K administration’s new beer sales policy

Amended rules allow liberal provisions for the sale of beer and other ready-to-drink beverages at department stores in the Union Territory’s urban areas

The National Conference (NC), the Congress, and the Valley-based religious bodies’ amalgam Muttahida Majlis-e-Ulema (MMU) on Wednesday opposed the Jammu & Kashmir administration’s liberal provisions for the sale of beer and other ready-to-drink beverages at department stores in urban areas in the Union Territory.

Condemning the move, Rattan Lal Gupta, provincial president of the NC, said, “This is an irony that the people of J&K, which is a ‘ dev bhumi’ of Shri Amarnath Ji, Mata Vaishno Devi Ji, Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah, Chhati Padshahi and the city of temples, are being converted into alcoholics by the Lieutenant-Governor’s administration. It’s going to have an adverse impact on young minds, who are already struggling with frustration due to unemployment.”

Mr. Gupta said the percentage of unemployment in J&K had hit 32.75%. “L-G Manoj Sinha should immediately roll back his most unjust decision, failing which the administration will have to face the ire of the people of Jammu for this anti-people decision,” he added.

“Jammu is a city of temples. J&K is also a Muslim-dominated State. No Muslim or Hindu wants to drink alcohol. They aim to sell it to growing unemployed youth in J&K. We will not allow the BJP to succeed in their designs,” J&K State Congress president Vikar Rasool Wani said. 

A spokesperson of the Kashmir-based MMU said such directives showed utter disregard for the tenets of Islam. “Open sale of alcohol in departmental stores will promote addiction, which is a major issue in Kashmir, especially among our youth. It will also encourage immoral behaviour. While consumption of alcohol is banned in many States of India, why is it being encouraged here?” the MMU spokesperson said.

The MMU also expressed strong resentment over the National Investigation Agency’s raid on the house of Moulana Rehmatullah Mir Qasmi, chief administrator of the Darul Uloom Raheemiya, in Bandipora. “Moulana Rehmatullah sahib is not only a religious scholar of high repute and a dignified and highly respected personality of Jammu & Kashmir, but also the spiritual leader of a large section of people who revere him. The harassment of such a person is shameful and unacceptable,” the MMU said.

The J&K administration recently approved the incorporation of liberal provisions in the Jammu & Kashmir Liquor License and Sale Rules, 1984 and Excise Policy, 2023-24 for the grant of ‘License JKEL-2A’ for retail sale of beer and ready-to-drink beverages in urban areas.