The women, marching under the banner of the Welfare Party of India (WPI), expressed their concern at a sharp increase in cases of addiction to alcohol and lottery affecting a large section of the country’s population, especially youth.
KOLKATA — Muslim women in their thousands marched the streets of West Bengal’s capital city of Kolkata on Monday calling for a ‘liquor-lottery-free India.’
The women, marching under the banner of the Welfare Party of India (WPI), expressed their concern at a sharp increase in cases of addiction to alcohol and lottery affecting a large section of the country’s population, especially youth.
The marchers demanded a blanket ban on lottery and liquor, claiming that the addiction to vices often leads to homes getting destroyed resulting in chaos in society.
The rally, starting from the city’s Ramlila Park and culminating at Gandhi Statue at Dharmatala, saw the women raising their voice against society’s glaring vices. Apart from Muslim women, a large number of farmers, workers, teachers, students and youth participated in the rally, raising slogans against liquor, usury, lottery and bribery. Leading the procession, WPI’s national president, Dr. Qasim Rasool Ilyas, hoped that the strong voice against alcohol from Bengal would spread throughout the country.
Yasmina Parveen, a demonstrator, marching with her son in Budge Budge, was quoted by The Observer Post as saying that she couldn’t remain silent at home amidst the growing liquor trade in Bengal. “Hence, I decided to take to the streets to protest.”
Sarwar Hasan, State General Secretary of WPI, said, “Eliminating alcohol, usury, bribery, and lottery from the country is imperative. We anticipate the government taking necessary action against these vices.”
Hopefully, he said, the government will now realise how strong is the resentment against these social evils.
The party’s central general secretaries Subramani Arumugam and Seema Mohsin said, “If Bihar and Kerala governments can ban wine in their states, why can’t West Bengal do the same? “Poor families are ruined every year due to wine and drug addiction but the government is silent and not taking any action,” they said.
