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DIMAPUR — Against the backdrop of the state government’s move to re-examine the Nagaland Liquor Total Prohibition (NLTP) Act of 1989, the Chakhesang Baptist Church Council (CBCC) has reiterated that the Act cannot be effective unless it is conscientiously implemented.
In a press release, the CBCC affirmed that it would be next to impossible to partially lift the Act and regulate what cannot be done when it is still active.
“When even other less challenging issues such ILP (Inner Line Permit), power theft, price of commodities, etc. cannot be regulated, to regulate NLTP Act after partially lifting it is bound to fail miserably,” it said.
Putting the onus on the “lackadaisical attitude of the authorities” for failure to implement the contentious Act, the council pointed out that everybody is aware that there is no proper mechanism to implement it.
“The license for those pigeon-holed shops that flood our towns are issued by the administration. Transportation of spurious liquors flowing into the market are simply open-secret! Authorities who are responsible for checking the flow of prohibited liquors into our state are passive and tight-lipped,” claimed the CBCC.
Maintaining that there is no room for blame game over the failure of the NLTP Act, the council acknowledged that “we have all failed together, so we must stand together to reinforce the Act because lifting the same will be a sign of self-defeat”.
It went on to state that Nagaland is a Christian-dominated state where the stand of the Church concerning the Act is clear, and that it is also the voice of the majority of the citizens in the state.
“It would be ironic for a democratic government to ignore the voice of the vast majority and be coerced by the voice of a tiny section of the society,” it said, while appealing to the state government “not to ignore the voice of the Church”.