AMN /SRINAGAR

geelaniHurriyat Conference (G) chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani today demanded complete ban on the use and sale of liquor in Jammu and Kashmir.

In a statement, Geelani has appealed to religious scholars and Ulema to launch sustained campaign against the use of liquor and aware people about its ill effects on health, society and family relations.

“It is encouraging that people in the state are raising their voice against this evil,” Geelani said adding “we hope everybody will play their role to eradicate this evil from society.”

Expressing surprise and dismay over the speeches of members of state assembly in which they had said “banning the sale of liquor will hit the revenue generation of state”, the Hurriyat chairman, in a statement, termed it totally unjustified.

“Four states of India that have completely banned liquor do not complain of any loss of revenue and nobody dies from hunger or poverty there,” Geelani said.

“We have sufficient avenues to generate income and for meagre income from liquor sale, it is unethical and unwise to justify its sale in the state.”