Srinagar, May 12: National Conference President Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday said that banning liquor sales in Jammu and Kashmir would not stop people from consuming alcohol, asserting that those who drink would continue to do so by sourcing it from outside the Union Territory.
Speaking to reporters according to news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS), Farooq said, “I don’t drink. Those who drink alcohol will drink. If it is not available here, they will bring it from outside. How can you stop them?”
The National Conference president also referred to a past conversation involving former Prime Minister Morarji Desai and his father, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, regarding the closure of wine shops in Jammu and Kashmir.
“When Morarji Desai came here, he told my father Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah to close wine shops. My father told him, ‘Give us the revenue we generate from them and we will shut them,’” Farooq, father of CM Omar Abdullah, said.
He added that the present Jammu and Kashmir administration would immediately close wine shops if the Centre compensates the revenue earned through them.
“If the Centre gives us the revenue we generate from wine shops, the J&K administration will shut them immediately,” he said.
He also took a dig at critics demanding closure of liquor outlets, asking them to identify who had originally opened such shops in the region.
“Those who raise hue and cry should first tell us who opened these shops,” he asked.
The remarks come amid continuing debate in Jammu and Kashmir over the presence of liquor outlets and repeated demands by several religious and social organisations for a complete ban on alcohol sales in the Union Territory (KINS)
