Hypocrisy & Liquor in Gujarat

Submitted by lalit on Mon, 02/19/2007 - 11:01am. ::

If you read the Gujarat newspapers you would feel that politicians in Gujarat are very ethical people championing the cause of prohibition.

Far from it.

We in India have a tradition of Public posturing while our actions privately are diametrically opposite. This applies more to our politicians who posture as paragons of good virtues. For the citizens of Gujarat its imperative to have leaders who apply their personal principles to politics. I am hoping to see a leader who publicly acknowledges that he is fond of the good stuff. Political hypocrisy should be exposed & people can make up their own mind about prohibition. Some laws made in the late 1800s actually ban kite flying. Every mature society should review its social order & laws every few years.

It might be a good idea to have a Europe type referendum in Gujarat. The citizens of Gujarat should be asked to vote on key issues like prohibition, SEZ development, social issues. This would empower the government to modify & develop new laws in accordance with the changing times.

The non availability of liquor also means a slower pace of development as large Indian & MNC companies would prefer to keep staff elsewhere. A point to note that makor companies in India would not make Ahmedabad their headquaters until this law is repealed. Good business & good commonsense are well known attributes of the people of Gujarat.

We commend the intiative taken by Malt March aka Dinesh Hinduja & feel that repealing prohibition will lead to increased progress for Gujarat.

Sincerely,

Lalit Advani

maltmarch
Submitted by maltmarch on Fri, 02/23/2007 - 2:03am.

"It might be a good idea to have a Europe type referendum in Gujarat"

Lalit, I really enjoyed your views but must disagree on this issue - a referendum in India is simply not possible on such issues the way it is in Europe, because of population, demographics and idealogy - Europe believes more in "egalitarianism" whereby we follow more of a "secularism" mindset because of the situation. The most obvious example is to protect the interests of minorities such as Muslims. People who drink responsibly, too are only a minority of this state, but every state and country has clearly defined minority rights, without discrimination but more on the lines of classification.

Hope you will be coming to Ellis Bridge Gymkhana debate on sunday.

Cheers!

Dinesh