Liquor shop in Srinagar shut down after traders protest, Mirwaiz threatens mass agitation
Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir administration has reportedly sealed a newly opened liquor outlet in Srinagar’s Batamaloo locality following widespread opposition from local traders and religious leaders. The decision comes amid rising public anger and a call for shutdown issued by business associations in the area.
On Friday, traders in Batamaloo staged a demonstration against the liquor shop and announced a three-day shutdown as a “mark of peaceful protest,” asserting that the outlet threatened the region’s “social and cultural fabric.”
In a joint notice signed by several traders' associations and shopping complexes, business leaders urged the administration to act swiftly. “We appeal to the concerned authorities to intervene and take action immediately,” the notice read, citing the negative impact of the liquor store on the locality’s ethos.
Vice-president of the Batamaloo Traders’ Association, Wasim Afroz Khan, told The Wire that the residents and shopkeepers were unanimously against the liquor shop. “We will not allow it to happen. Tourists don’t come here to drink liquor; they come for our climate, forests, and mountains,” Khan said.
According to reports, the liquor outlet was relocated from Pantha Chowk to Batamaloo to accommodate the ongoing Amarnath Yatra.
Prominent religious leader and Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq issued a stern warning during his sermon at Srinagar’s historic Jamia Masjid on Friday. He termed the liquor store “a deliberate attempt to ruin our people and our future generations.”
Speaking after the Friday prayers, Mirwaiz denounced the move as an “assault on our religious, cultural and societal ethos” and warned of mass protests if such decisions continued. He lauded the Batamaloo traders for taking a principled stand and demanded immediate government intervention.
“It is the government’s duty to ensure that such proposals are nipped in the bud. If they fail, then the ulemas, civil society and masses will have no option but to protest,” he said.
Following mounting pressure, the liquor shop was reportedly sealed by the authorities later the same day.
The Wire noted that this is perhaps the first time since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 that authorities have reversed their own decision following a warning from the Hurriyat leadership.
The backlash also casts renewed scrutiny on the Union Territory’s liquor policy. On February 15 this year, the J&K Excise Department invited bids for 305 liquor vends across the region, including 14 in Kashmir’s tourist hubs such as Sonmarg, Pahalgam, Gulmarg, and parts of Baramulla and Kupwara.
The policy proposes opening liquor shops in seven wards of Srinagar and also at government-run tourist facilities and two airports. Authorities claim the move will encourage “processing and maturation of special spirits” under J&K’s climatic conditions for domestic and export purposes.
Facing criticism earlier this year, J&K Finance Minister Omar Abdullah, under whose department the Excise portfolio falls, distanced himself from the policy, saying the number of liquor vends remained unchanged.
The move has drawn criticism from several political quarters. PDP legislator Mir Muhammad Fayaz Mir introduced a private member’s bill seeking a complete ban on liquor sales and advertisements in the region. PDP president Mehbooba Mufti’s daughter, Iltija Mufti, launched a signature campaign against liquor sales in Kashmir.
Interestingly, senior BJP leaders, including former deputy chief minister Nirmal Singh and J&K Waqf Board chairperson Darakshan Andrabi, have also expressed support for a liquor ban in the Union Territory.
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Women BJP MLAs protest against opposition in UP assembly premises
Lucknow (PTI): Women BJP MLAs held a protest in the Vidhan Bhawan complex before the one-day special session of Uttar Pradesh assembly, slamming the opposition for defeating the passage of a bill, which would have led to implementation of the Women's Reservation Law, in the Lok Sabha.
This followed another demonstration by Samajwadi Party MLAs, who alleged that the BJP was misleading public in the name of women's reservation.
The women BJP legislators assembled in front of Chaudhary Charan Singh's statue in the assembly premises, holding banners inscribed with the slogan "Insult to Matrushakti (women's power), India will not tolerate it". The protesting members entered the main hall of Vidhan Bhawan carrying the banners.
Participating in the protest, the state Minister for Women Welfare and Child Development, Baby Rani Maurya, told reporters that all opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, had opposed the women's reservation, a stance for which they would have to pay a heavy political price.
"On this issue, all of us women stand united. We will ensure that we secure our reservation," she said.
BJP MLA Ketki Singh remarked that their protest represents the collective outrage of millions of women across the state.
Singh asserted that the opposition has betrayed women by creating hurdles in the path of women's reservation. The current demonstration is merely the beginning, and very soon, women from every street, intersection and household will join the protest movement, she said.
Minister Vijaylakshmi Gautam said, "We strongly condemn the despicable act committed by the Samajwadi Party and the Congress in an attempt to hold back 'half the population' (women). Their action was directed against the very bill that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had introduced to empower and strengthen Nari Shakti (women's power), and which he strived to pass expeditiously."
Uttar Pradesh assembly is holding a one-day special session on Thursday. During the session, the government is set to move a censure motion against the opposition parties over their failure to pass the Constitution Amendment Bill, which would have led to implementation of the Women's Reservation Act, in the Lok Sabha.
