Vezo Luruo
Kohima
Church and alcohol cannot coexist in a single room, we all know that. But can deaths caused by consuming spurious liquor coexist with the Church and the NLTP Act? At least 23 people have reportedly died in Nagaland after allegedly consuming spurious liquor, prompting authorities to issue public warnings. For a State that has proudly carried the tag of being “dry” for decades, the tragedy is deeply regrettable and has exposed the dark reality that exists behind prohibition and tag.
“Does he drink alcohol?” is certainly one of the most frequently asked questions in Nagaland, where drinking is considered a social stigma due to Christian customs. When a person is admitted to hospital, involved in an accident or dies, people often ask: Did the person drink? When a car is speeding due to an emergency, people are quick to assume that the driver must be drunk. But while we are quick to make moral judgements, there is no public discussion about the bigger issues: supply and source. Where exactly does the alcohol come from despite the NLTP Act and the checks in place? Who is behind this business? How does the supply chain operate? When liquor joints operate openly in many colonies until late hours, are given fixed operating hours and even exist just outside the Nagaland Assembly complex and some churches.
The issues of health, consumer safety and exorbitant prices in the black liquor market have become neglected topics because of the moral position of NLTP Act and the “Nagaland for Christ” identity. While the State is dry on paper, the market is wet in practice and consumers are paying the price.The price of alcohol in the illicit liquor markets depend directly on the success of illegal supply chain. When liquor is cheaper, supplies may have successfully bypassed checks and reached distribution points. When prices suddenly rise, supplies may have been interrupted or seized. In this way, consumers economy and health are left at the mercy of these illegal markets. Often, small joints and sellers are targeted while big suppliers remain untouched. Despite checks and campaigns against alcohol and drugs, the business continues to flourish across the State, generating millions in profit under the very prohibition law meant to curb it.
The reality is that Prohibition itself has created a lucrative underground economy in which bootleggers, illicit suppliers and liquor syndicates make crores without providing any assurance of quality or safety, all under the guise of dry State. Those who profit from such system have no concern about who drinks, who becomes sick or who dies. The consumer carries the entire risk. No records, no testing, no accountability, no licence and no permit. That is why the NLTP Act deserves serious scrutiny. Rather than eliminating the liquor business, it has created opportunities for black markets to flourish. Just because some people choose not to drink does not mean that those who do should be left at the mercy of these markets. The poorest consumers are paying the highest price.
This is not an argument in favour of drinking. It is an argument in favour of saving lives and consumers economy. Nagaland cannot continue to celebrate prohibition on paper while an underground liquor economy flourishes in practice and consumers remain exposed to toxic substances at high prices. The real failure is not the drinker but the system that has allowed such market and supplies to flourish.
