A Pissed of Conglomeration of Women Lined the Streets Against Alcohol Consumption at Pink City, Jaipur.
There is nothing ‘cool’ or ‘progressive’ about alcohol consumption, whether it’s in case of men or women. In urban metropolises, the incoming ‘bar culture’ pitches alcohol as an ‘ultra cool practice’. Contrary to this, in past, ancient India looked down upon people who consume alcohol. However, ‘Savitri shaming’ is the new way of living life in modern society. Rather than respecting an individual’s practical, sensible choice about drinking, others shame and pressurize them to join them. Initially it was a common practice in metro cities, but the flames have spread to tier II/III cities as well, Jaipur being one of them.
But things will have to change now! Women in Rajasthan took it upon themselves to shun this practice—a fact that was evident from the protests led by an unruly mob of women on Tonk road at Jaipur. This Thursday, many females, clad behind colourful veils blocked the streets and went to the extent of man-handling policemen on duty. There were complaints regarding women gripping the collar of Gandhinagar SHO. Even the police were taken aback by the intensity of mass protest staged by innocent-looking women.
While damaging liquor shops and threatening the police, they shouted “We’ll not let any single liquor shop to run in our locality”. But this isn’t something very new. Since last month, Rajasthan police witnessed 70 major protests against alcohol in the capital city alone. It attracted and involved more people than the hunger strike staged by former MLA Gurusharan Chhabra, who lost his life while demanding a ban on tobacco and liquor in 2015. Unfortunately, this tragedy didn’t attract much attention to this issue. Nevertheless, things changed since women decided to lead this campaign.
From rural women in veils to teenage students, school kids and office-going professionals, everyone joined the league. But the bigger question is that what made women pioneer this movement. Most of them have experienced first-hand ill-effects of alcoholism in their family. Domestic violence, financial crisis, social shaming and breakdown of families—the women were always a victim of alcoholism, whether they’ve consumed alcohol themselves or not.
For a state that depends on foreign tourism and recreation, banning alcohol is not a viable choice for Rajasthan. The state harbors night clubs, resorts, discs, palaces and recreational centers that attract foreign tourists. Needless to say, all venues serve alcohol to attract them. In this case, banning alcohol isn’t feasible for state economy. However, the government needs to come up with a reasonable solution like introducing rehabs, educating people about the ill-effects of alcohol and strategies like these to ease the pain of these women.
