Kerala’s Catholic Church has declared war on the CPI(M)-led LDF Government over its new liquor policy by which liquor outlets including bars could be opened in almost all panchayats in the State. The new policy also paves way for the reopening of almost all the bars that were closed down in 2014 as part of the then Government’s policy envisaging implementation of Prohibition in ten years’ time through phases.
Threatening to do everything it could to defeat the LDF’s candidate in the by-poll to be held soon in Chengannur Assembly constituency, the Church on Saturday challenged the Government to hold a referendum to assess Keralites’ approach towards the new liquor policy. It would hold a State-wide agitation against the policy on April 2.
“This liquor policy is another Cyclone Ockhi for the State,” said Mar Remigiose Inchananiyil, Syro-Malabar Catholic Church’s Bishop in Thamarassery diocese and chairman of the anti-liquor committee of the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC). “How can a Government show such betrayal to the people who voted it to power?” the Bishop asked.
As per the LDF Government’s policy, panchayats with population of more than 10,000 will be considered as urban areas so that they would qualify for permission for opening liquor outlets in accordance with a Supreme Court’s ruling relaxing the stipulation of 500-meter distance-limit from national and state highways in the case of urban areas for opening liquor outlets.
The new policy may lead to opening of liquor outlets effectively across the State as population in almost all panchayats in Kerala is above 10,000. According to observers, the Government’s new liquor policy is against the promise the LDF had made before the election that it would strive to bring down consumption of alcohol by promoting abstinence.
“I want to tell the LDF: Let us meet in Chengannur (by-election). The people will vote against this liquor policy in Chengannur. All of us will be there telling the people to vote against this policy,” he said, adding that the KCBC would hold an intense agitation against the Government on April2, the day the new policy would be announced.
“On the one hand the Government says it will promote abstinence and on the other it lets liquor flow everywhere,” complained Cardinal Baselios Cleemis Catholicos of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church while Mar Joseph Perunthottam, Changanassery Archbishop of Syro-Malabar Church said,
“This policy will destroy the young generation.”
However, the CPI(M), which has decided to field its Alappuzha district secretary Saji Cherian, a Christian, as the LDF’s candidate for the Assembly by-election in Chengannur where 20 percent of the voters are Christians, tried to put up a bold face by saying that it was not worried about the Church’s threat.
“We accept the Church’s challenge. They have been posing such challenged to us for a long time,” said CPI(M)’s State secretariat member Anathalavattom Anandan. However, CPI(M)’s Excise Minister TP Ramakrishnan explained that no new bars would open and that only those bars closed during the former Congress-led UDF Government’s tenure would reopen.
A large section in the Left believes that the Church’s tactic is to use the liquor policy issue as an instrument to divert attention from the multi-crore rupee land scam in the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church involving its Major Archbishop Cardinal George Alencherry, which has brought disrepute to the entire Catholic Church in the State.
The Congress, the Opposition UDF it leads and the BJP are determined to use the ire of the Church against the LDF over the liquor policy to their advantage in Chengannur by-election. According to observers, the new liquor policy could spell trouble for the LDF in Chengannur when the Government is already in the dock over the political killings in Kannur.
“I am certain that the new liquor policy will create a pro-UDF situation in Chengannur,” said UDF’s Congress candidate D Vijayakumar. Former State BJP chief PS Sreedharan Pillai, NDA’s candidate in Chengannur, also aired support for the Church, though indirectly, in the matter. “Chengannur is certain to give a clear reply to the Left for its arrogance,” he said.
State BJP president Kummanam Rajasekharan said the LDF Government’s move was intended at drowning the Keralites in liquor. He said the new liquor policy was an act of thanksgiving to the bar owners for the “help” they had provided the Left with during the last Assembly election.