Tipplers in Bihar get labelled as 'mahapaapis' as the liquor ban gets diluted through an Amendment Bill

The connotations of consuming liquor in Bihar are becoming more egregious with time. From being considered just a social evil earlier, drinking alcohol is now a “mahapaap” (eternal sin) in the lexicon of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Not just that, a tippler in Bihar is working against the principles of Mahatma Gandhi, who opposed liquor consumption and thus is not considered to be an Indian.

The baffling claims were made in the Bihar Assembly while defending against the claims by the Opposition in his government’s failings to control deaths from liquor consumption. He said people consume spurious liquor despite knowing that it is harmful, and thus, they are responsible for the consequences, not the state government. He also absolved the responsibility of the state government in providing relief to their families in cases of death and illness. Hooch tragedies in the state have resulted in more than 60 deaths in the last six months of 2021.

Nitish Kumar has been in the line of fire by the Opposition and the judiciary in his government’s handling of the liquor ban imposed in the state in 2016. The Bihar cabinet on Wednesday introduced and passed an amendment bill that seeks to make the liquor ban less stringent for first-time offenders in the state.