The irony that Nagaland is a dry state is not lost on the people, and while endless debates on whether alcohol should be legalised or not continues, the NLTP Act, 1989, is still in force.
In the recent drama that had unfolded in Dimapur involving a truant office bearer of the Naga Students’ Federation (NSF), many skeletons have fallen out of the closet inadvertently. It has only confirmed the unholy nexus of vested business establishments and the powers that be in the mutually assured destruction of the city. Everyone is well aware of the fact that Dimapur is awash with alcohol, although it is prohibited on paper. It’s the same everywhere across Nagaland, but Dimapur stands out from the rest. Whatever be the bone of contention between the two individuals in focus with regard to this particular case, we hope that the law will take its own course of action and a befitting example be made of. People are watching this case with unusual curiosity. Which way the bat of the law swings, only time will tell but rest assured, it will certainly influence public opinion – for better or worse.
The irony that Nagaland is a dry state is not lost on the people. We’ve continuously been having endless debates on whether alcohol should be legalised or not. However, leaving that aside, let’s remember that the NLTP Act, 1989, is still in force. Thus, keeping this mind, we should be seriously questioning how liquor flows unabated in this dry state of ours. Yes, the supposed liquor syndicate, the proximity to neighbouring Assam, the potential revenue generation, the question of choice to drink or abstain, and the moral implications from a Christian point of view are all there to be considered. When the law enforcement agencies make a show of arresting small-time liquor smugglers and dealers, it is honestly very repelling and an insult to the intelligence of the common man. Without a shadow of doubt, they are limited by various factors but their allegiance to the Constitution takes precedence over everything.
The common man is aware of the big fish swimming unperturbed in the river. The contrast in treatment is visible to everyone. And this is where the question arises: Whose invisible hand is behind the drowning of countless souls in the bottomless abyss? Is the invisible hand so powerful that it can even silence the voice of the self-ordained moral guardians who had apparently fought tooth and nail to have the Nagaland Liquor Total Prohibition (NLTP) Act, 1989 enacted? The same people for whom silence is the norm when hefty donations are made irrespective of their sources of origin? The same people who keep mum over rising crimes, societal decay, and moral decline? Are they being governed by the Law of Omerta?
The devil is in the details.