Dire consequences in Tamil Nadu over 'refusal to heed' Rajaji's advice on prohibition

By NS Venkataraman*
C Rajagopalachari (popularly known as Rajaji) was recognised in his time as one amongst the most enlightened intellectuals in India. Apart from being a freedom fighter, Rajaji excelled in several other areas and was a great writer, speaking and writing on variety of subjects including world peace and disarmament, need to promote free enterprises, moral and ethical value in public life, religions and so on.
Rajaji was born on December 10th December, 1878 and passed away on December 25th 1972 and lived for 93 years.
On Rajaji’s recent birth day on 10th December, 2022, the day largely passed off without the people in India or the people in Tamil Nadu to which state Rajaji belongs, celebrating his birthday, recognising his contribution to the progress of the country and his achievements.
Of course, Tamil Nadu Governor paid tributes to Rajaji n th Raj Bhavan and a few state ministers garlanded his statue elsewhere. This event was not even reported in most section of the media. This is unlike the way that the nation observes the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhai Patel. Former President Dr Radhakrishnan’s birthday is celebrated as teacher’s day every year.
In this scenario, non-observance of Rajaji’s birth anniversary on 10th December, 2022 adequately to remember his contribution is conspicuous and unfortunate.
Mahatma Gandhi hailed Rajaji as his conscience keeper, which is the ultimate tribute for Rajaji’s sense of honesty and courage of conviction. Later , Gandhiji declared that Rajaji was his successor. He further told that “Rajaji sees at least six months ahead of him”.
There are several instances that revealed Rajaji’s capability to think beyond his time and make his views clear and providing advice to the existing governments. Unfortunately, a number of his valid suggestions were not accepted by those in power at that time and the value of some of his suggestions were realized much later and implemented.

Rajaji’s view on prohibition

Amongst many of Rajaji’s suggestions of far reaching importance, let us take only one, namely his call for implementing total prohibition in Tamil Nadu.
On a rainy Tuesday evening on July 20, 1971, Rajaji, in his ripe age, met the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Karunanidhi at his residence and pleaded against lifting prohibition, which Rajaji believed would hurt future generations adversely. It was reported that Rajaji, the former Governor General of India, was made to wait for some time for the meeting which took place for 20 minutes .

It is reported that more than 50% of men folk in Tamil Nadu have succumbed to liquor habit

Sadly, this advice was not accepted by the then Chief Minister Karunanidhi and his government, which lifted prohibition. The adverse consequences of such decision are seen today in Tamil Nadu.

During the last six decades after the lifting of prohibition by the then DMK government, the liquor habit amongst the people of Tamil Nadu have increased by leaps and bounds. It is reported that more than 50% of men folk in Tamil Nadu have succumbed to liquor habit and even youth and students in the teen age have started taking liquor. What is alarming is that even women are now slowly falling to the liquor habit. It was really shocking to hear the recent news that school going girl students joined together and consumed beer in public.
With widespread liquor habit steadily developing in Tamil Nadu, the social fabric of the state have been uprooted and life of women, in whose family menfolk have taken to liquor habit, have become hell like. Women are being beaten, harassed and left without earnings of the menfolk, who spend their earnings on liquor. Many believe that in such condition, Tamil Nadu will be moving towards socially unstable state with value system in life going for a toss.
Rajaji anticipated all these problems and pleaded with the then DMK Chief Minister, who did not listen to him. Tamil Nadu is now paying the price.
There is no indication that conditions will improve in the near future, as Tamil Nadu government is now heavily dependent on liquor sale income , even though liquor habit is causing social and family disturbance to an extreme level.
There can be so many other instances where Rajaji anticipated events, as he could think beyond his time.
It is sad that such a great person is not adequately remembered today, with younger generation not being well informed of the role model like Rajaji, who lived with great wisdom.
---
*Trustee, Nandini Voice For The Deprived, Chennai

Comments

ரெபெல்ரவி said…

I'm.a teetotaller but I won't support prohibition. What's the data about people who consumed alcohol before prohibition was lifted in Tamil Nadu. What s the data about people whonconsune alcohol in Gujarat and Bihar now? Prohibition will fill the coffers of illicit arrack brewers and smugglers only. Unless and until people realize ad change this can't be contained.

October 16, 2023

Vaccine nationalism? Covaxin isn't safe either, perhaps it's worse: Experts

By Rajiv Shah I was a little awestruck: The news had already spread that Astrazeneca – whose Indian variant Covishield was delivered to nearly 80% of Indian vaccine recipients during the Covid-19 era – has been withdrawn by the manufacturers following the admission by its UK pharma giant that its Covid-19 vector-based vaccine in “rare” instances cause TTS, or “thrombocytopenia thrombosis syndrome”, which lead to the blood to clump and form clots. The vaccine reportedly led to at least 81 deaths in the UK.

'Scientifically flawed': 22 examples of the failure of vaccine passports

By Vratesh Srivastava* Vaccine passports were introduced in late 2021 in a number of places across the world, with the primary objective of curtailing community spread and inducing "vaccine hesitant" people to get vaccinated, ostensibly to ensure herd immunity. The case for vaccine passports was scientifically flawed and ethically questionable.

'Misleading' ads: Are our celebrities and public figures acting responsibly?

By Deepika* It is imperative for celebrities and public figures to act responsibly while endorsing a consumer product, the Supreme Court said as it recently clamped down on misleading advertisements.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah* The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual.

Magnetic, stunning, Protima Bedi 'exposed' malice of sexual repression in society

By Harsh Thakor* Protima Bedi was born to a baniya businessman and a Bengali mother as Protima Gupta in Delhi in 1949. Her father was a small-time trader, who was thrown out of his family for marrying a dark Bengali women. The theme of her early life was to rebel against traditional bondage. It was extraordinary how Protima underwent a metamorphosis from a conventional convent-educated girl into a freak. On October 12th was her 75th birthday; earlier this year, on August 18th it was her 25th death anniversary.

Palm oil industry deceptively using geenwashing to market products

By Athena* Corporate hypocrisy is a masterclass in manipulation that mostly remains undetected by consumers and citizens. Companies often boast about their environmental and social responsibilities. Yet their actions betray these promises, creating a chasm between their public image and the grim on-the-ground reality. This duplicity and severely erodes public trust and undermines the strong foundations of our society.

'Fake encounter': 12 Adivasis killed being dubbed Maoists, says FACAM

Counterview Desk The civil rights network* Forum Against Corporatization and Militarization (FACAM), even as condemn what it has called "fake encounter" of 12 Adivasi villagers in Gangaloor, has taken strong exception to they being presented by the authorities as Maoists.

No compensation to family, reluctance to file FIR: Manual scavengers' death

By Arun Khote, Sanjeev Kumar* Recently, there have been four instances of horrifying deaths of sewer/septic tank workers in Uttar Pradesh. On 2 May, 2024, Shobran Yadav, 56, and his son Sushil Yadav, 28, died from suffocation while cleaning a sewer line in Lucknow’s Wazirganj area. In another incident on 3 May 2024, two workers Nooni Mandal, 36 and Kokan Mandal aka Tapan Mandal, 40 were killed while cleaning the septic tank in a house in Noida, Sector 26. The two workers were residents of Malda district of West Bengal and lived in the slum area of Noida Sector 9.

India 'not keen' on legally binding global treaty to reduce plastic production

By Rajiv Shah Even as offering lip-service to the United Nations Environment Agency (UNEA) for the need to curb plastic production, the Government of India appears reluctant in reducing the production of plastic. A senior participant at the UNEP’s fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-4), which took place in Ottawa in April last week, told a plastics pollution seminar that India, along with China and Russia, did not want any legally binding agreement for curbing plastic pollution.

Mired in controversy, India's polio jab programme 'led to suffering, misery'

By Vratesh Srivastava* Following the 1988 World Health Assembly declaration to eradicate polio by the year 2000, to which India was a signatory, India ran intensive pulse polio immunization campaigns since 1995. After 19 years, in 2014, polio was declared officially eradicated in India. India was formally acknowledged by WHO as being free of polio.

Counterview

Search This Blog