The order of the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) that those bars meeting two-star criteria should be opened has kicked up a controversy with prohibitionists coming down heavily against it.
Talking to The Hindu , Geevarghese Mar Coorilos, Metropolitan of the Niranom diocese of the Jacobite Syrian Church, said the common man could not comprehend the SHRC order.
Mar Coorilos, an active prohibitionist and moderator of the Mission and Evangelism Commission of the World Council of Churches, said no human rights issue was at stake in the closing down of 418 bars across the State.
The government could easily rehabilitate those who were rendered jobless following the closure of the bars, he said.
The bishop said the common people could never be blamed if they questioned the credibility of the SHRC which is supposed to ensure their right to live and protection from the social evils of alcoholism and drug abuse. The SHRC should have acted against the menace of alcoholism, he said.
Kerala has been identified as one of the top liquor-consuming States in the country. A more alarming official revelation was that the average age of liquor consumption in the State has come down to 13 years, exposing the growing trend of alcoholism among children, he said.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had stated that Kerala could forgo the hefty revenue from liquor. He should show the political and moral will to stick to his words and introduce prohibition in a time-bound manner taking its heavy social cost into consideration, Mar Coorilos said.
According to him, Left parties have failed in fighting social evils like alcoholism and drug abuse.
He called upon the womenfolk to declare a war on liquor as they are at the receiving end of the social malady.
The bishop said the churches should take a lead role in the crusade against liquor.
Recently, Mar Coorilos had issued a pastoral letter urging the faithful to keep off alcoholics from key posts of church bodies.
