An aide to chief minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday said the ruling National Conference would “very soon” ban liquor, betraying the party’s nervousness amid mounting pressure from all sides to enforce prohibition.
The assurance from Tanvir Sadiq, lawmaker and the National Conference’s chief spokesperson, came a day after the BJP made common cause with Kashmir’s Muslim clergy and other notable voices over the demand for a liquor ban.
Dozens of BJP leaders and activists had pushed through police barricades to protest outside Omar’s home in Srinagar.
Salman Sagar, National Conference MLA from Hazratbal, termed the protest a security breach and asked how “300 to 400 people” had been allowed to gather outside the chief minister’s residence.
Sadiq said there was nothing wrong with the BJP’s protest. But he regretted that the party had not protested when lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha’s administration framed a liquor sale policy in 2023, identifying 116 new locations in Jammu and 67 in the Valley.
“I promise you that whenever it (liquor) is banned, it is the National Conference that will do it and it will happen very soon,” he told reporters in Srinagar.
Asked about the BJP’s threat of a hunger strike to press for prohibition, he dismissed it as drama.
“I don’t want to go into that in detail but I want to say that the National Conference will ban it and ban it soon,” Sadiq said.
“We understand the sentiments of the people, particularly in Kashmir. People want some action against it. God willing, Omar Sahab’s government and cabinet will have a fresh look at it (the liquor policy).”
Omar recently sparked outrage with remarks that suggested he supported the sale of liquor. The chief minister later clarified that he was against liquor consumption by Muslims and had spoken only about selling alcohol to people whose religion allowed them to drink.
Party president and Omar’s father Farooq Abdullah later ruled out a liquor ban unless the Centre compensated Jammu and Kashmir for the revenue loss.
The Union Territory is expected to earn ₹3,000 crore from liquor revenues in the current financial year. It’s unclear how its cash-strapped government would make up the losses if it bans alcohol sales.
National Conference sources said the Centre was unlikely to compensate the losses.
Sagar has described Friday’s siege of Omar’s home as a “stage-managed” bout of “hooliganism” facilitated by the security agencies.
“What happened yesterday was a security breach. Around 300-400 people engaged in hooliganism outside the residence of the former chief minister (Farooq) and the sitting chief minister,” he said.
“It was stage-managed and is a security lapse. The agencies facilitated it (the protest).”
Sagar said that as a Muslim and an elected representative, he supported a liquor ban.
Politics over liquor has intensified amid Sinha’s ongoing 100-day campaign against drug addiction in Jammu and Kashmir.
Since the lieutenant governor’s administration had in the past fiercely rebuffed calls for a liquor ban by opening more shops, many are asking why he is targeting drugs alone.
Omar’s government has accused Sinha of disproportionately targeting Kashmiris despite Jammu being home to more drug addicts.
Police on Saturday pulled down a commercial structure in Kulgam as part of their demolition drive against alleged drug peddlers in Kashmir.
Hundreds have been arrested and dozens of properties demolished during the crackdown, with Kashmir bearing the brunt.