EMN
DIMAPUR, AUGUST 6
THE Angami Baptist Church Council (ABCC) has said it remains committed to upholding the Nagaland Liquor Total Prohibition (NLTP) Act, 1989 and asserted that it will steadfastly stand by NBCC in its efforts to make the Prohibition a reality.
Explaining that Nagaland is much bigger than Kohima and Dimapur, the ABCC, in a release issued by its executive director V Atsi Dolie, today said many villages across Nagaland have resolved to ban sale of liquor in their respective jurisdiction for reasons best known to them. It will be most unfortunate if the elected representatives of Nagaland choose to ignore that major voice of the people whom they represent, the release said.
Maintaining that the church is always at the receiving end, the ABCC said, “When she is silent, her silence is questioned. When she speaks out, her voice is questioned.” Nevertheless, the church, as she is meant to be, should always strive to be a catalyst to the dying society despite the criticisms, it stressed.
The ABCC further said it is convinced that NLTP is doing more good than harm and requested the elected representatives to amend the loopholes to bring about “more good than now” rather than doing away with it.
It said to the church, the NLTP Act is not properly implemented to this day and added that the church has not initiated the Prohibition so that some bootleggers can make crores of money from behind the scene or a mafia-type network to benefit from regulating flow of supply to Nagaland. “Certainly, it has fought for much nobler cause, that is, to save lives and bring peace to families for which Prohibition is expected to be a means to it,” the ABCC said.
It further stated that the question of lifting will be due for consideration only when prohibition is achieved, experienced and valuated but not for its failure.
