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The irony is that the Bihar CM’s rant came when the assembly was voting to amend the state’s harsh prohibition law, and to take its sting off for first-time offenders. Pour yourself a stiff one before you hear this one. According to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, those who drink alcohol are “not Indians”. “They are mahapaapis,” he thundered in the state assembly. Now, if one could down a glass of mahua for every innocuous little thing that self-styled custodians of desi indignation have declared “un-Indian”, it would at least make for pleasant evenings. But to have a seasoned socialist leader, a six-time chief minister, join in this juvenile labelling is rather dispiriting. It suggests that even a Patiala peg of sobriety — arguably Nitish Kumar’s current choice of poison — might be injurious to health and reason.
The irony is that the Bihar CM’s rant came when the assembly was voting to amend the state’s harsh prohibition law, and to take its sting off for first-time offenders. A clear sign that even if Bihar’s prohibition policy began as a response to a constituency of women voters and its needs, it is now tottering on the ground. From bootlegging to hooch death tragedies to overburdened prisons and courts, it has left a trail of broken bottles and promises.
It’s hard to break a habit — drinkers know that best. Most also know that hurling moral indignation at a bottle of Old Monk doesn’t make it less tempting than before. Neither will calling those who enjoy their drink sinners salvage a failed social engineering experiment. Who knows, some enterprising chap might well be opening a branch of Mahapaapi Theka just to rub that in. So, what’s a man or woman to do? For starters, Nitish Kumar might stop channeling his inner WhatsApp uncle, and dial down on the moral panic. The long lines at liquor shops across the country should tell him that even hyper-nationalism — that most heady of intoxicants — isn’t going to come between a tippler and her drink. Let’s raise a toast to that.
This editorial first appeared in the print edition on April 1, 2022 under the title ‘Unacceptable toll’.
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