Members of various fisherwomen associations and All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) staged a demonstration at Pamban near here on Monday, demanding closure of three TASMAC liquor shops in Pamban area and declaration of the pilgrim island ‘liquor-free’.
Led by K. Irudhaya Mary, president of Thangachimadam Women Fishers’ Association, a large number of women participated in the protest. They said the three liquor shops were opened in the island after the government closed down eight shops following the Supreme Court order.
A couple of days after general public and members of various political parties staged a protest against relocating a liquor shop at Sambai village on the way to ‘Ramar Paatham’, the fisherwomen, supported by the AIDWA, staged the protest, alleging that the liquor shops had ruined the lives of poor fisherfolk in the island.
Fishermen, who risked their lives in the sea, spent most of the money they earned on liquor, said Ms. Mary. Their families were struggling to make both ends meet and they could not provide good education to their children, she said.
Women from Pamban, Thangachimadam, Ariyangundu and Kunthukal participated in the protest.
AIDWA district secretary E. Kannagi said women were forced to go for seaweed collection and shoreline fishing, as men spent most of their earning on liquor. Also, the sanctity of the island, seen as a pilgrim centre, could be protected only if it was made free of liquor, she said.
