Close the bars; open doors to progress!
The rally taken out by women in Karnataka demanding ban on alcohol has gained national attention. Women covered more than 200 kms in 12 days on foot to press for their demand. Just when people thought movements were a thing of past, thousands of women have laid siege know Vidhana Soudha in the capital. This movement was not born out of some political sponsorship, but out of pain lakhs of women are undergoing everyday at the hands of alcoholic family members. Their challenges, miseries and difficulties brought them to streets. They weren't walking for the politicians. Most of them are daily wage labourers.
They crossed the line their men had strictly drawn for them to assert for their rights. But the way the government responded to this movement is highly disappointing. The CM has said banning alcohol all of a sudden is not possible. By saying “all of a sudden” the CM has tried to escape from his responsibilities. Because the demand for ban on alcohol is not a sudden or a recent one.
CM Kumaraswamy, being the son of soil, isn't a stranger to the problems faced by women in rural areas owing to husbands taking to alcohol. So is it feasible to assume that he isn't willing to ban alcohol? Women bear the worst brunt of men turning to alcohol for their addiction. This menace has contributed generously to farmer suicides too. This is the main contributing factor to increasing crime rates in villages and cities. Alcohol is a problem that comes with multiple complexities. It contributes to poverty, unemployment, lack of education and ruined families when it becomes an excess. To allow alcohol to be supplied generously and hoping to fight poverty, unemployment and illiteracy is like fighting the shadows.
Today we need to treat the disease and the symptoms that lead to it. All politicians have been nurturing alcohol by saying the governments are run with the excise money. Today even the Kumaraswamy government is saying the same thing to further its lies and shut the mouth of women activists. Government does not need excise money but political parties do. Excise companies feed flush funds into political parties. And this is not the situation of one party. BJP, JDS and Congress all of them are run by excise companies. If this foundation is disturbed, it may lead to devastating earthquake within the parties.
The excise department under the government, gives a bit and fleeces more than double. On one hand the government sets high targets to sell liquor. The logic as per the government is that with more tax collection, the funds can be used for more development of the state. But the huge point we are missing is that just as alcohol consumption increases, the society begins to collapse at large. Lakhs of people are losing health owing to alcohol. At the end it is the government that has to compensate for their health needs. And the money govt has to spend on controlling alcohol fuelled criminal activities is not small at all. Usually it so happens that the govt has to spend more than double the amount to compensate for ills caused by alcohol than the earnings that come from it.
On the other hand, let's imagine a situation where liquor ban has been implemented as a policy. People will stop splurging their hard earned money on liquor and save the resources. This will obviously improve their life conditions. The money spent on medical care owing to situations arising out of alcohol addiction can also be saved. A healthy person is an asset to the society. The instances of inebriated men attacking or assaulting women will also come down. Family life will improve in quality. Women and children will escape from illiteracy and malnourishment. With all this, government resources that had to be spent on safeguarding people can be saved. The money spent on creating awareness advertisements against alcohol can be utilised for better purposes. There are allegations that arrack sales will go up if liquor is banned.
A person addicted to alcohol can never give up his addiction so easily. He will look for ways to fulfil his needs. Then the fake liquor racket will begin to raise its ugly hood. Just as the govt bans liquor they also have to create a strategic plan to control arrack sales as well. Tough measures have to be initiated against arrack makers and sellers. Making arrack without the support of police and politicians is not an easy task. On the same lines, to say this government is run by liquor money itself is highly deplorable. There is no difference between granting permission to sex trade and running the government from that money. If the stage has to run on the path to progress, liquor stores have to down their shutters. Women's rally is a beginning in this sense. Let this spread across the lengths and breadth of the country as a massive movement.
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SRH knocked out of play-off race after washout against DC
Hyderabad, May 5 (PTI): Sunrisers Hyderabad were eliminated from the play-offs race after their Indian Premier League fixture against Delhi Capitals was called off due to heavy rain following the first innings here on Monday.
Pat Cummins-led SRH pace attack ran through the DC batting line-up to limit the visitors to 133/7 before rain dashed the slim hopes of the home team. Both teams shared a point each for the abandoned game.
With 13 points from 11 games, DC remain in contention for a top-four spot.
After reaching the final last year, it was a season to forget for SRH who could not replicate their ballistic run of 2024 with the bat. Having collected only seven points from 11 matches, SRH will now be playing for pride.
Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were already eliminated from the competition.
Before rain lashed the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, the hosts put up a clinical effort with the ball and were on course for only their fourth win of the season until rain arrived, creating large puddles of water on the outfield. The match officials decided to call off the game at 11.10 pm local time.
The shot selection of Delhi Capitals' batters contributed to their downfall after being put in to bat.
They were left reeling at 29 for five in 7.1 overs with captain Cummins causing the maximum damage.
Cummins had Karun Nair caught behind on the very first ball of the match with a good length ball around the off-stump. It was a rather loose shot from the DC batter first up.
Faf du Plessis departed in Cummins' following over, a failed attempt to put the relentless Australian away for a boundary. Not getting any loose ball from Cummins, the South Africa went for a pull on the charge only to be caught by the wicket-keeper.
Cummins' third victim was Abhishek Porel who was caught after mistiming a flick.
Harshal Patel and Jaydev Unadkat then got into the act by dismissing Axar Patel and K L Rahul respectively. The in-form Rahul went for a drive on the up but ended up edging it to Ishan Kishan behind the stumps.
It was one way traffic until Tristian Stubbs (41 not out off 36) and impact player Ashutosh Sharma (41 off 26) combined to take DC to a respectable total. They shared a 66-run stand off 45 balls.
Sharma was able to break the shackles by depositing leg-spinner Zeeshan Ansari for a couple of sixes over long-on in the 15th over.
Stubbs did not look as comfortable as Sharma in the middle but managed to provide much needed support to the latter. The South African could find only four boundaries with the last one coming off the final ball of the innings.
🚨 News 🚨
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 5, 2025
Match 55 between @SunRisers and @DelhiCapitals has been called off due to wet outfield.
Both teams share a point each.
Scorecard ▶ https://t.co/1MkIwk4VNE
#TATAIPL | #SRHvDC pic.twitter.com/VnVZWjsjGJ
