The protests have gained momentum after a anti-liquor activist died atop a mobile phone tower, demanding closure of a liquor outlet .
Chennai : Violent protests demanding imposition of prohibition has quickly spread in the last two days across Tamil Nadu, a State that holds the dubious distinction of netting one-third of its revenue target through the sale of alcohol. Since Sunday, at least three liquor shops have been ransacked by protestors including college students in Tirunelveli, Coimbatore and Chennai.
The protests, led by opposition parties, have gained momentum after a Gandhian and anti-liquor activist Sasi Perumal died atop a mobile phone tower in Kanyakumari district, which he climbed to demand the closure of a liquor outlet.
The Gandhian”s body is lying at the Government Hospital in Kanyakumari for the last four days as his family members have refused to accept it until the Jayalalithaa Government declares total prohibition in the State. Liquor is exclusively sold by the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) and the revenue generated by it has touched a whopping Rs 30,000 crore.
At the forefront of this struggle demanding prohibition are parties such as the MDMK led by Vaiko, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, PMK, DMDK, Congress and BJP. The DMK had recently hopped on to this bandwagon with its president M Karuna-nidhi declaring that he would take steps to eradicate liquor in Tamil Nadu if voted to power next year.
With the protests turning violent, the police have registered a case against Vaiko for instigating people to ransack a liquor outlet. College students who targeted a liquor outlet in Chennai were arrested on Monday.
Amidst all this, the opposition parties, though claiming to fight for a common cause, have announced staggered protests independently. While the MDMK and VCK have jointly called for a bandh on Tuesday, Vijaykant”s DMDK has announced a human chain protest two days later and the DMK has called for statewide protests on August 10.
The ruling AIADMK has dubbed these as political protests. Revenue Minister Natham R Viswanathan on Monday claimed that since the opposition did not find any shortcomings in governance to highlight, they were taking to protests against liquor vending.
Meanwhile, the AIADMK also launched a concerted campaign to turn the tables on the MDMK and DMK by pointing out that Vaiko”s son was a distributor for the Indian Tobacco Company (ITC) and prominent DMK men including former Union Minister Jagathrakshagan”s family owned distilleries in Tamil Nadu. Therefore, they had no locus standi to seek prohibition or talk of welfare of people.
