Hooch tragedy: ‘If you drink, you will die’

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar made a controversial statement on the hooch tragedy in the state in which over 30 people died, saying that those who drink liquor will obviously die.

He rejected the possibility of giving compensation to the families of those killed in the tragedy and urged people be more vigilant when liquor is banned in the state since 2016.

“Jo sharaab peeyega, wo toh marega hi na… Udaharan saamne hai — peeyoge toh maroge. (Those who drink liquor will obviously die. We have an example in this case),” Nitish said in Hindi in response to a question in Patna.

Yesterday, the Bihar CM had lost cool in the state assembly when he came down heavily on the opposition party, BJP, for criticizing the liquor ban policy.

The JDU-RJD government has been facing protests by the BJP in the assembly and outside over alleged laxity in implementing prohibition.

He, however, expressed grief over the death of the people and underscored the need for raising awareness campaign in this regard. “We have been running massive social awareness drives,” he said.

He further argued that even when there was no prohibition, people died of toxic liquor in the state and elsewhere. “People have died in huge numbers in other states as well,” Nitish added. There have been similar deaths in Gujarat, another prohibition state, and Punjab in recent years.  “Also, remember, you should not drink liquor anyway. Most people have agreed with the prohibition policy. But some people will make mistakes,” he argued.

“You know what Bapu (Mahatma Gandhi) has said (in favour of prohibition), and what research across the world shows — all of that has been sent to people’s homes — about how liquor is a bad thing, how many people die because of it. People have been dying of toxic (spurious) liquor since long, and it happens across the country,” he said.

He further added: “We have taken strict action, but people need to be more vigilant. When there’s prohibition, the liquor being sold will obviously have something wrong in it.”

The government, however, said that investigation has been initiated and strict action would be taken against those responsible for the deaths.  Bihar is one of two big states — Gujarat — that have prohibition at present. Nagaland and Mizoram have similar policies with some exceptions.

-INDIA NEWS STREAM