Ao Ordained Ministers defend NLTP Act, recalling 1989 sacrifices and urging strict enforcement instead of repealing Nagaland’s liquor prohibition law.
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DIMAPUR — The Dimapur Area Ao Ordained Minister Fellowship (DAAOMF) has reiterated its opposition to any move to repeal or dilute the Nagaland Liquor Total Prohibition (NLTP) Act, recalling the long history of church-led struggles and sacrifices that led to the enactment of prohibition in the state.
In a declaration issued on Saturday, the fellowship traced the prohibition movement from the early days of the Naga national movement through decades of protests, hunger strikes and mass mobilisations led by the Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC), culminating in the passage of the NLTP Act in 1989.
It maintained that the Act was achieved not through force, but through prayers, petitions and the willingness of church leaders to lay down their lives.
Rejecting arguments that blame the NLTP Act for drug abuse and illegal liquor trade, the fellowship asserted that the core problem lay in poor and incomplete implementation of the law.
Also read: Dimapur Ao pastors' fellowship opposes lifting of NLTP Act
It pointed out that key provisions of the Act, including the appointment of prohibition officers and constitution of prohibition councils, were never effectively enforced.
The ministers cautioned that repealing the Act would have serious social and moral consequences, and questioned whether the state’s medical, police and excise machinery was prepared to handle the fallout.
Describing liquor as a “cursed and abominable substance” for Naga people, the fellowship urged the government to remain steadfast in enforcing total prohibition and called upon churches to stand firm against any attempt to abrogate the NLTP Act.