Thiruvananthapuram
The Catholic Church in Kerala continued its criticism of the state government’s decision to dilute its earlier plan to impose prohibition, with a public protest in Kozhikode on Friday.
The Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Conference organised a ‘standing protest’ in Kozhikode, in which the participants had their mouths gagged with black cloth and held placards, demanding a stringent liquor policy. Tribals in Kerala had recently popularised the ‘standing protest’.
The Church’s ire has been directed at the Congress-led United Democratic Front government after it diluted its policy for a phased implementation of prohibition in the state.
“We were supportive of the government’s initial policy on liquor. But now they have backtracked on their word”, Danny Joseph, a Catholic priest at the protest venue said.
Meanwhile, rural development minister K.C. Joseph and excise minister K. Babu added more fuel to the government’s dispute with the Catholic Church by arguing that the church members were significant consumers of liquor.
“A number of their flock are consumers of liquor and are in the liquor business. The KCBC can issue a directive to the church members that they should not consumer liquor or involve in the liquor business. They can say they will not provide church services to those who get involved in the liquor business”, minister K. Babu said on Friday.
Earlier, minister K.C. Joseph had also made similar comments, pointing out that the “KCBC ought to start its anti-liquor move from home”. Joseph, too, opined that the church leaders should first impress on church members to abstain from liquor.
The liquor policy and its revision has also created a deep rift within the ruling Congress party. The revision of the liquor policy that involved giving beer and wine licences to all the liquor bars in the state has angered Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president, V.M. Sudheeran. However, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has stood by his decision to dilute the policy, pointing out that it was done after considering the “practical aspects”.
The amendment of the policy also involved removing the provision of observing Sundays as dry days. The dilution of the policy came at an opportune time for the liquor bar and tourism sectors, just before the Christmas-New Year week began.
