Peerzada Masarat Shah
Botal Ka Jin Baher Kaun?
The bottle is open. The genie is out. And instead of sealing it shut with sense and governance, our politicians in Kashmir are busy dancing around it, pointing fingers, and shouting louder than the next man to prove who is the purest saint in the Valley.
While Kashmir waits — for jobs, for decent schools, for hospitals that actually work, for roads that don’t collapse every winter, for power that doesn’t vanish the moment it snows — our political class has found its new favourite toy: the liquor debate. Again. As if nothing else matters. As if unemployment, brain drain, crumbling infrastructure, and a youth staring at empty futures are mere side shows. The real emergency, apparently, is “Botal”.
Let us be honest for once. This is not a sudden moral awakening. This is political theatre at its finest — and everyone on stage knows the script by heart.
We all know the PDP founder, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, was famously nicknamed “Mufti Whiskey” by his political rivals. The man who started the party now leading the charge for prohibition had no problem with his personal fondness for the drink. Yet today, his daughter’s party and others scream from rooftops that alcohol is destroying Kashmiri culture. Meanwhile, the same leaders who campaign against liquor shops host lavish private functions where cocktails flow freely behind closed doors. Sakina Itoo was spot on when she asked them to first check their own private parties before lecturing the public. The hypocrisy is so thick you could bottle it and sell it as premium single malt.
During the very period when PDP and its allies were in power or influential (2002-2008), excise revenue from liquor kept rising steadily — a clear sign that regulated sales were expanding and generating more money for the government:
| Year | Total Excise Revenue (₹ Lakh) |
|————|——————————-|
| 2001-02 | 16,466.92 |
| 2002-03 | 20,213.91 |
| 2003-04 | 20,483.45 |
| 2004-05 | 19,771.84 |
| 2005-06 | 20,361.70 |
| 2006-07 | 21,209.20 |
| 2007-08 | 24,264.49 |
| 2008-09 | 24,548.75 |
Why this sudden righteousness now? Because the real battle is not against the bottle — it is against the rising public image of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha. His aggressive war against drugs has struck a chord in the Valley. Massive awareness campaigns, rallies, demolitions of drug dens, and a clear message that peddlers will pay with their assets have made him a visible, decisive figure. Political parties — NC, PDP, and even BJP — are nervous. They cannot let the LG own the narrative of “saving Kashmir’s youth.” So they manufacture a parallel moral crusade: “We are more righteous than the maulvis!” Ban the bottle, they cry, while conveniently forgetting that the same excise revenue they once happily collected funded their governments.
And look at the selective outrage. Today’s BJP protest was held only in Srinagar. Workers marched in the Valley, raised slogans, tried to reach Gupkar Road. Fair enough — they have every right to protest. But why is there zero noise in Jammu? Why no marches in Jammu city, where the overwhelming majority of liquor outlets actually operate? Why no “lockdown” warnings for wine shops in Jammu province? Because the politics of the bottle changes colour the moment you cross the Banihal tunnel. In the Valley it becomes a weapon against “Kashmiri ethos.” In Jammu it is quietly accepted as revenue and tourism reality. Selective morality is the name of the game.
The common Kashmiri is exhausted. People voted for governance, development, and accountability. What they got is endless verbal clashes, hashtags, and TV debates that generate heat but zero light. Alcohol is a personal and social issue — yes. Excessive drinking ruins lives. But no society has ever been reformed by politicians turning it into a daily circus. Those who want to drink will find a way, ban or no ban. Those who don’t, won’t. Individual conscience cannot be legislated into existence through assembly bills and protest marches.
Kashmir does not need more sermons on morality. It needs jobs for its graduates, quality education that prepares them for the 21st century, healthcare that doesn’t force families to sell land for treatment, and economic policies that bring real investment instead of photo-ops. The bottle debate is a convenient distraction — for parties worried about the LG’s popularity, for those who want to appear holier-than-thou, and for everyone who prefers easy headlines over hard governance.
The genie is out of the bottle because we keep uncorking it for votes. Time to put the cork back in, focus on what actually matters, and let Kashmir breathe development instead of drama. The people are watching. And they are tired.
