Opinion is divided in Payyavur panchayat on the relocation of a closed liquor outlet, if the protest by a section of residents and a counter-protest are any indication.
The proposed plan to relocate an outlet of the Kerala Civil Supplies Corporation at Sreekantapuram, which was shut down in the wake of the Supreme Court order banning liquor sale near National and State Highways, has drawn conflicting protests from those who are opposed to the relocation plan and those who are not so opposed. Chappakkadavu in the Chathurampuzha ward in the panchayat is where the opposite stances on opening the liquor outlet are being contested in rival protests.
A section of local residents of Chappakkadavu have already launched protests against an alleged move to relocate the shuttered liquor outlet there. The agitation, supported by the local church and political parties including local leaders of the Congress and CPI(M), however, is not without opposition from another section of people in the panchayat who held a public meeting at Chappakkadavu on April 17 to counter the protest against the plan to open liquor outlet there.
“Yesterday’s protest was not for the liquor outlet but against an attempt to create tension in the name of the ongoing agitation opposing the alleged plan to open it here,” said Joyi Joseph, local CPI(M) leader and member of Ponnumparamba ward in the panchayat who addressed the protest meeting on Monday. “In my address at the meeting I said that though I have not yet tasted alcohol and have no intention to taste it, it is not right for us to forcibly deny liquor to people who consume it,” he told The Hindu and added that since the panchayat borders forests of Karnataka, hooch brewing has increased since the closure of the outlets.
Among the local political leaders who addressed the agthering in support of the protest on April 17 was the local Congress leader and former panchayat member Gopi Kakkasseri. The anti-liquor outlet agitators, however, say that Monday’s protest was attended by ‘outsiders’. Daisy Joseph, Congress ward member representing Chathurampuzha ward, says the plan to relocate the outlet at Chappakkadavu is being opposed as it is feared to cause nuisance to the public in the area.
“There were very few local people in the pro-liquor outlet protest yesterday and many of the participants were CPI(M) workers,” said local Congress leader and panchayat member P.K. Balakrishnan who is supporting the anti-liquor outlet protest. He also said that the resolution passed by three grama sabhas against the opening of the outlet showed the support of the local residents against it.
