Prohibition in India

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Currently "dry" states and union territories in India Prohibition partial restrictions no prohibition




The Prohibition in India d. H. The total ban on the sale and serving of alcoholic beverages currently exists in the states of Gujarat , Bihar and Nagaland , in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep and in parts of the state of Manipur . Disputes over prohibition have been going on in India for many decades.

History of alcohol bans in India

British India

background

Gandhi on the spinning wheel in the 1920s
Palm wine tappers in a historical illustration

The idea of ​​reducing alcohol consumption by prohibiting the serving and sale of alcohol and thus improving society as a whole comes from the Temperenzler movement , which found supporters especially in Anglo-Saxon countries in the 19th century. This movement grew in influence in the United States , with the result that in 1919 the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed. As a result, the "manufacture, sale, or transport of intoxicating beverages" and their import and export were prohibited in the United States from 1920 to 1933. In the Scandinavian countries , Finland , Canada and Russia , too, corresponding, more or less restrictive legal provisions were temporarily in force in the first three decades of the 20th century.

British India was not unaffected by these currents. There were also other traditions of abstinence here . Indian Muslims were forbidden from drinking intoxicating drinks by the Koran . In Hinduism , Buddhism and Jainism , which are not legal religions, there are no such prohibitions, however alcohol consumption has always been condemned by religious authorities and there was an ancient tradition of the ideal of an ascetic way of life , which included abstinence from alcohol. The highest Hindu caste of the Brahmins (priests) and the third highest caste of the Vaishyas (traders) traditionally did not drink alcohol and lived as a vegetarian.

Gandhi's campaign against alcohol

The abstinence movement in British India was heavily influenced by Mohanda Gandhi's attitude to this issue. This was a lifelong tea total (proponent of giving up alcohol). In 1925 he exemplarily expressed his disgust for drunkenness:

“Alcohol makes a man forget himself. He ceases to be human for a while. He becomes something less than a wild animal and in his drunken state cannot distinguish between his wife and sister. He loses control of his tongue and other limbs. That never leads to anything good. I therefore hope that you will fight this scourge with all your might. "

- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi : Address on March 23, 1925

Gandhi's attitude led the Indian National Congress to include nationwide prohibition in its program. Gandhi hoped that abstinence would lead to moral purification and strengthening of the Indian nation. The restraint would lead to a discipline and a strengthening of the Indian independence movement. In the eyes of Gandhi, alcohol consumption led to a brutalization of the whole human personality. Gandhi accused the British colonizers of having introduced the evil of alcoholism as a “Western habit” in India, analogous to the introduction of opium to China after the First Opium War (1839–1842). Before the arrival of the British, this was only an individual and not a mass phenomenon. In addition to the moral strengthening of the independence movement, Gandhi also saw the aspect that the income of the British colonial administration from the alcohol tax should be reduced. The alcohol tax accounted for a significant proportion of the tax revenue - in the years 1930-1931 this was 33 percent in the province of Bombay and 31 percent in the province of Madras .

Gandhi's campaign against alcohol met with little opposition from Indians. Most alcohol addicts were poor, uneducated, and without political influence. The exception was the small but influential Parsees , who turned against the Prohibition movement, partly because they had a “Western” lifestyle, but partly because they were themselves economically involved in the sale and trade of alcohol . Apart from the Parsees, a few Sikhs and a few members of the higher castes ( Kshatriyas ), however, social alcohol consumption in India was uncommon and Gandhi's demand for abstinence was met with great approval. A key consideration was that Muslims and Hindus largely agreed on this issue.

First prohibition laws

Following the reforms of the Government of India Act 1935 and the ensuing elections to the Provincial Assemblies of British India, Congress won a majority in many provinces. As a result, prohibition laws were passed in five provinces (Madras, Central Provinces and Berar , Bihar, Orissa and North-West Frontier Province ) between 1937 and 1939 . This policy was interrupted by the outbreak of war in 1939, when the Congress governments of the provinces all resigned in protest against British India's war participation, which was ordered from above.

After independence

Alcohol legislation in the states 1954: Prohibition partial restrictions no prohibition




The constitution of India , which came into force in 1950, was in many ways heavily influenced by Gandhi's ideas. This also included attitudes towards alcohol consumption. Article 47 established prohibition as a state goal:

"... in particular, the State shall endeavor to bring about prohibition of the consumption except for medicinal purposes of intoxicating drinks and of drugs which are injurious to health."

"... in particular, the state should work to enforce the ban on the consumption (except for medical purposes) of intoxicating beverages and substances that are harmful to health."

- Indian Constitution, excerpt from Article 47

For the first Prime Minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru , the introduction of prohibition was not an affair of the heart as it had been for Gandhi. For Nehru, this question was a secondary priority. Some of his fellow campaigners, especially Morarji Desai in Congress, continued to see this as a central task for politics. Nehru left the decision of whether to introduce prohibition to the individual states. Some states took action to pass prohibition laws. In 1954, about a quarter of India's population was prohibited.

On December 16, 1954, the Indian Planning Commission set up the Prohibition Inquiry Committee , chaired by Shriman Narayan . The committee was given the task of preparing recommendations for a plan for implementing prohibition at the national level. The committee visited most of the states and heard opinions from numerous experts. At the end of June 1955 it submitted its final report to the planning committee. The report recommended the inclusion of the goal of prohibition in the second five-year plan. Ultimately, however, the recommendations were only partially or incompletely implemented. From 1958 to 1969 there was complete prohibition in the states of Madras (renamed Tamil Nadu in 1969 ), Maharashtra , Gujarat and 11 districts of Andhra Pradesh (the area of ​​the former state of Andhra ), as well as in parts of Assam , Madhya Pradesh , Orissa , Mysore (now Karnataka ) and Kerala .

In 1964, the Indian federal government offered the states to compensate for the loss of income that would be expected when prohibition was introduced. However, this offer was not accepted by the states - possibly also out of concern that they would become too dependent on the headquarters without sufficient income of their own. During Morarji Desai's government as Prime Minister from 1977 to 1979, the introduction of Prohibition briefly once again became a top political priority. However, the topic quickly faded into the background due to other pressing political problems.

Recent developments

Andhra Pradesh

In 1994, the then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, N. T. Rama Rao (Congress Party), introduced Prohibition in his state, thus taking up the popular demands of the anti-arrack movement, which is mainly carried out by women . His successor in office, N. Chandrababu Naidu ( Telugu Desam Party ), repealed the relevant laws in 1997. Since then there have been repeated disputes about the reintroduction.

Bihar

The election to the Parliament of Bihar 2016 was won by a grand alliance made up of the three parties Janata Dal (United) , Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress Party. One of the election promises had been the introduction of prohibition, which was promptly implemented under the new Chief Minister Nitish Kumar . The official statistics showed a decrease in traffic accidents and serious crime in the months after the introduction. Later figures seemed to paint a different picture.

Gujarat

Gujarat , Gandhi's home state, is the only state in which prohibition has been in effect continuously since the founding of the Republic of India in 1950. Gujarat was created in 1960 when the state of Bombay was divided . Prohibition was introduced in Bombay with the Bombay Prohibition Act, 1949 . The law is still valid today in the two successor states of Bombay, Gujarat and Maharashtra . However, it is handled very differently in both countries. While licensing practices for serving and selling alcohol are very generous in Maharashtra, the practice in Gujarat is very restrictive. When more than 100 people died in Ahmedabad in 2009 after consuming illegally produced alcohol, the Gujarat government passed a law that provides the maximum penalty for convicted offenders in such cases. Foreigners (and Indians living abroad) visiting Gujarat can purchase a 30-day license to purchase alcoholic beverages at selected 5-star hotels or at Ahmedabad Airport .

Haryana

After Bansi Lal won the 1996 parliamentary election in Haryana with his newly founded Haryana Vikas party , he implemented an election promise and introduced prohibition in Haryana. After 19 months, prohibition was lifted on April 1, 1998.

Kerala

On August 24, 2014, the then Chief Minister of Kerala , Oommen Chandy (Congress Party), announced that Kerala would gradually introduce prohibition. The project was supported by several other parties in Kerala ( Muslim League , Kerala Congress ). However, the sale of alcoholic beverages in 5-star hotels and the production and sale of palm wine (toddy) should remain legal. After the Congress government was voted out of office in the 2016 parliamentary elections and a new government of the Communist Party (Marxists) was elected, prohibition was relaxed again in 2017 and practically largely lifted when sales in star hotels were allowed.

Lakshadweep

The sale and consumption of alcohol is prohibited in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep . Alcohol consumption is only permitted on the uninhabited island of Bangaram, which is the only one open to tourism, where Bangaram Island Resort has a bar.

Manipur

Prohibition only applies in the inner districts (red) of Manipur

Prohibition was introduced in Manipur under Chief Minister Raj Kumar Ranbir Singh in 1991. In 2002, the government under Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh lifted the alcohol ban in the outlying mountain districts of Manipur ( Chandel , Churachandpur , Senapati , Tamenglong and Ukhrul ). It was maintained in the four central districts of Imphal East , Imphal West , Thoubal and Bishnupur . In July 2014, Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh stated that the government was looking for ways to lift prohibition altogether.

Mizoram

Prohibition was introduced in Mizoram in 1997 , but it was lifted again in 2014. It was reintroduced on May 28, 2019. The Christian churches in particular had campaigned for this.

Nagaland

Prohibition was introduced in Nagaland with the Nagaland Total Liquor Prohibition Act, 1989 . The driving force behind the demand for prohibition were the Christian churches of Nagaland, to which a large part of the state's population belongs, in particular the Nagaland Baptist Church Council . Selling and serving alcohol are prohibited, but private consumption is permitted. More recent attempts to loosen prohibition somewhat in order to meet the needs of tourism met with strong resistance from the churches.

criticism

The arguments of the proponents of Prohibition are obvious and largely correspond to those advanced by Gandhi. Several points are mentioned as arguments against prohibition. On the one hand, the supposed positive effects put forward by the proponents of prohibition are fundamentally doubted. The alcohol consumption would not really decrease and any positive effects would be more hypothetical. Second, there is a loss of income from alcohol taxation, which makes up a significant portion of state income. The loss of income leads to a loss of the political power of governments. Another reason cited is the high number of deaths resulting from the use of illegally produced alcohol. Mostly it is methanol poisoning . If not fatal, methanol poisoning often leads to blindness. Dozens to hundreds of people who have obtained their illegally produced alcohol from the same source are often affected at the same time. Such poisoning also occurs in non-prohibition states and results in hundreds if not thousands of deaths nationwide each year.

Statistics on alcohol consumption

Compared to the countries of Europe or North America, India today still has a comparatively low per capita consumption of alcohol. According to estimates, the annual per capita consumption of pure alcohol is less than a tenth of the amount consumed in German-speaking countries in Europe (see the list of countries by alcohol consumption ). According to surveys by the World Health Organization in 2014, 60 percent of all men and 90 percent of all women in India did not drink any alcohol for their entire life (in Germany: 4 and 6 percent, respectively). However, drinking habits change with the increasing adoption of “western” lifestyles.

Estimated average per capita consumption of alcoholic beverages per month (in liters) according to the National Sample Survey 2011–12
State /
Union Territory 		Toddy Desi daru beer Wine and imported
spirits
Andaman and Nicobar Islands 0.264 0.067 0.000 0.183
Andhra Pradesh 0.793 0.114 0.031 0.069
Arunachal Pradesh 0.004 0.826 0,201 0.060
Assam 0.006 0.369 0.005 0.005
Bihar 0.202 0.126 0.012 0.005
Chandigarh 0.000 0.011 0.022 0.071
Chhattisgarh 0.019 0.118 0.008 0.014
Dadra and Nagar Haveli 0.807 0.424 0.167 0.001
Daman and Diu 0.229 0.241 1.686 0.062
Delhi 0.000 0.122 0.005 0.034
Goa 0.000 0.071 0.123 0.008
Gujarat 0.003 0.066 0.006 0.001
Haryana 0.000 0.113 0.004 0.021
Himachal Pradesh 0.000 0.171 0.005 0.052
Jammu and Kashmir 0.002 0.030 0.000 0.005
Jharkhand 0.126 0.269 0.006 0.002
Karnataka 0.003 0.031 0.036 0.064
Kerala 0.109 0.013 0.033 0.078
Lakshadweep 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Madhya Pradesh 0.075 0.116 0.004 0.003
Maharashtra 0.004 0.079 0.004 0.002
Manipur 0.003 0.156 0.002 0.004
Meghalaya 0.005 0.094 0.006 0.034
Mizoram 0.000 0.026 0.000 0.000
Nagaland 0.001 0.222 0.008 0.020
Odisha 0.035 0.088 0.011 0.004
Pondicherry 0.161 0.090 0.269 0.000
Punjab 0.001 0,201 0.006 0.046
Rajasthan 0.018 0.081 0.036 0.007
Sikkim 0.000 0.052 0.171 0.093
Tamil Nadu 0.004 0.029 0.035 0.065
Tripura 0.009 0.209 0.000 0.001
Uttar Pradesh 0.012 0.026 0.001 0.002
Uttarakhand 0.000 0.052 0.008 0.023
West Bengal 0.008 0.100 0.004 0.003
India as a whole 0.009 0.042 0.024 0.021
  1. ↑ A spirit made in India. Listed in the statistics as 'country liquor' .
  2. ↑ In these statistics, “imported spirits” ( 'foreign liquor' ) also include spirits of western style ( whiskey , gin , rum ) that were produced in India.
  3. ↑ Andhra Pradesh with Telangana

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c David M. Fahey, Padma Manian: Poverty and Purification: The Politics of Gandhi's Campaign for Prohibition . In: The Historian . tape 67 , no. 3 . Wiley, 2005, p. 489-506 , JSTOR : 24453150 (English).
  2. ↑ Mahatma Gandhi on Liquor. Retrieved on July 23, 2017 (English, original: Drink makes a man forget himself. He ceases to be a man for the time being. He becomes less than a beast and he is unable in his drunken state to distinguish between his wife and sister. He loses control over his tongue and other limbs. It never does the slightest good. I hope, therefore, that you will combat the curse with all your strength. ).
  3. ^ A b Report of the Prohibition Inquiry Committee 1954-55 . Government of India Press, Delhi 1955 (English, online [PDF]).
  4. ↑ Article 47 in The Constitution Of India 1949. 1949, accessed on September 24, 2016 .
  5. ↑ Article 246: Subject-matter of laws made by Parliament and by the Legislatures of States. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Indian Constitution, archived from the original on April 16, 2016 ; accessed on July 22, 2017 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / lawmin.nic.in
  6. ↑ Rohan Panjiar: The tragedy of prohibition. The Indian Express, March 26, 2010, accessed July 22, 2017 .
  7. ^ Dilip Bobb: Prohibition: Going dry with Desai. indiatoday.intoday.in, September 30, 1977, accessed July 23, 2017 .
  8. ^ M. Malleswara Rao: The battle of the bottle in Andhra Pradesh. The Hindu, March 27, 2004, accessed July 23, 2017 .
  9. ^ Heiko Frese: Women's Power: The Anti-Arrack Movement in Andhra Pradesh . In: Südasien-Chronik / South Asia Chronicle . tape 2 , 2012, ISBN 978-3-86004-286-1 , pp. 219-234 , doi : 10.18452 / 17969 (English, online ).
  10. ↑ Amaresh Saurabh: How Gujarat Inspired Nitish Kumar to Bring Prohibition to Bihar. thequint.com, June 3, 2017, accessed July 23, 2017 .
  11. ↑ Devanik Saha: Bihar liquor ban: Nine months on, major crimes in state increased by 13%. January 12, 2017, accessed July 23, 2017 .
  12. ^ The Bombay Prohibition Act, 1949 Complete Act - Bare Act. legalcrystal.com, 1949, accessed July 23, 2017 .
  13. ↑ Gujarat introduces death penalty for toxic alcohol. BBC News, December 6, 2011, accessed July 23, 2017 .
  14. ↑ a b c d e Prakash Chandra Verma: People's Dialogue on Education . In: People's Dialogue on Education . tape 8 , no. 1 . Politicindia, January 2016, ISSN  0974-5955 (English).
  15. ↑ Sanjeev Gaur: Haryana To Lift Prohibition From April 1st Business Standard, May 18, 1998, accessed on July 23, 2017 .
  16. ↑ Somya Khera: Liquor ban in Kerala: State rolls back prohibition, allows sales in star hotels. Financial Express, June 22, 2017, accessed July 23, 2017 .
  17. ^ Adam Halliday: Mizoram lifts 18-year-old ban on alcohol. The Indian Express, July 10, 2014, accessed July 23, 2017 .
  18. ^ Prohibition again imposed in Mizoram after four years. indiatoday.in, May 29, 2019, accessed on November 10, 2019 .
  19. ↑ Shashank Bengali: 84 dead in India after drinking toxic homemade liquor. Los Angeles Times, June 20, 2015, accessed July 22, 2017 .
  20. ↑ Sriram Karri: Gujarat's lethal ban on alcohol. The Guardian, August 19, 2009, accessed July 22, 2017 .
  21. ↑ India alcohol poisoning: Mumbai death toll tops 100.BBC News, June 22, 2015, accessed July 22, 2017 .
  22. ↑ Who, What, Why: Why are Indians dying from alcohol poisoning? BBC News, November 15, 2011, accessed July 22, 2017 .
  23. ↑ INDIA: ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION: LEVELS AND PATTERNS. (PDF) Retrieved July 22, 2017 (English).
  24. ↑ GERMANY: ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION: LEVELS AND PATTERNS. (PDF) Retrieved July 22, 2017 (English).
  25. ↑ Ben Doherty: Alcohol now a tide in Gandhi's dry India. The Sydney Morning Herald, February 14, 2011, accessed July 22, 2017 .
  26. ^ Household Consumption of Various Goods and Services in India 2011-12, National Sample Survey 68th Round. (PDF) Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation, June 2014, accessed on July 22, 2017 .