Joining issue with Congress leaders on the issue of closed bars, Church of South India (CSI) deputy moderator and Head of the Madhya Kerala diocese Bishop Thomas Oommen has said that prohibition and closure of bars cannot be taken as an inner party problem of the Congress. He has warned that any move to bring back the culture of liquor will draw popular ire.
In a statement here on Wednesday, the Bishop said an issue that ensured welfare of and peace in thousands of homes should not be handled as an inner party issue. With the fall in sale of liquor, there had been a marked fall in the incidence of vehicle accidents and in the crime rate. “This cannot be taken lightly,” he said, adding that no one could measure the happiness and peace experienced by such families.
Bishop Oommen, who is also the president of the All Kerala Joint Christian Temperance Movement, the umbrella organisation of various Christian denominations working for the anti-liquor campaign, said the government’s actions during the past many days had increasingly made it clear if it was indebted more to the bar owners or the people. Taking a critical view of the just-launched inspection of the closed bars by the Excise Department, the Bishop said it was an eyewash.