Picture of the day: Say no to drinking papa!

10 Responses to Picture of the day: Say no to drinking papa!

1. Vichara says:

   July 2, 2007 at 11:53 am

   Prohibition has been tried out in so many countries and it does not work. Most certainly not in free societies. In India we have decided to be a free society and prohibition has been tried in several states and invariably has been a failure. People will get their high from where ever possible. That usually leads to illegal and dangerous methyl alcohol and they turn up blind time to time.

   And more over I personally do not appreciate people trying to take away my freedom to consume alcohol. I like my drinks and I will defend my right to my drinks. Others do not have any right to demand that my right be taken away. How does my drink affect anybody else?

   If a father drinks and the mother feels that is affecting her and her kid’s life, they can walk away from that marriage. They can demand that he pay maintenance for the kids.

   They have no right to take away my drinks from me. My drinks do not affect them. And I have an inalienable right to my drink- alcohol or other wise.

   This right extends to other similar intoxicants that nature has provided for our pleasure in the form of various plants and plant extracts. It is ridiculous that a government that can not even provide for basic medical facilities- millions dies of colera, TB, malaria- 45% of Indian kids suffer malnutrition and will have their mental growth affected one way or other because of that- spends time and money on prohibition and burning marijuana.
2. Zartab Haider says:

   July 3, 2007 at 6:03 pm

   Drinking is a social evil and it certainly cause problems not only for the one who consumes it but also for the people those who are associated with the drinkers.

   Offcourse we are living in a free society and we have every right to consume whatever we want to but we have to make sure that it doesnt effect the lives of peoples those who are associated with us, having a family is not a big deal but fulfilling the demands of the family is something which is important, if a wife or children doesnt like drinking then a person should be responsible enough to stop drinking for the sake of his wife and children coz at no point of time drinking is more precious than family.

   The after effects of excessive drinking are quite dangerous and many a times we have witnessed so many deaths because of druken driving, apart from that it does effect our own body a lot, yes if we are not responsible for anyone in this world then we have the right to do whatever we like to but we have to be cautious at that time also that it is not effecting others at anytime.
3. Vichara says:

   July 3, 2007 at 11:58 pm

   Zartab Haider

   I think that in a strange way this topic is very much related to a very important issue we are facing in India- that of social conflicts. Let me explain.

   When we are dealing with individual’s freedom, it must be regarded as absolute. Any conditions attached should be very well considered and kept to a minimum. I think that is very important. The moment you bring in conditions then the flood gates are open and the next thing you know is that we are marching backwards into 17th century.

   At the time of our Indian independence the leaders were more concerned with religious freedom of the citizenry than either individual liberty or economic freedom. This led to a situation where so many safeguards were built into the constitution and the penal code regarding religious freedom.

   At the same time most ludicrous limitations were placed on our economic freedom in the form of license raj. The sort of control the government placed (and people accepted without even a whimper of protest) on what can be produced, how much can be produced, who can produce, what sort of contracts can be executed between free born individuals; the list goes on and on.

   The government (we as a society) gave a free run to the religious leaders to decide the sort of laws by which the members of each religious community will be governed. Separate marriage laws for minorities- Christians and Muslims have a separate procedure for registering their marriage!!!

   There are extensive laws on how religious communities can run educational institutions. Compare that with the quantum of laws, the complications, lack of clarity on how private bodies can run educational institutions. At a time when private education is becoming more important we are caught in a legal system that has not paid any attention to the “right of an individual to run business
4. Zartab Haider says:

   July 4, 2007 at 1:15 am

   @ Vichara

   I agree on some of your points and respectfully disagree on some.

   I agree that at the time of writing the constitution many things have been included just to please various religions and the end result was a chaos in term of disbelief among the followers of various religions.

   But i would like to ask one simple question that what do you mean by the “right of an Individual” what are those rights, have we got a right as an individual to kill another person because we dont like him or he is of different religion, or we have got the right to alienate ourself from our family just on the basis of something wrong which I am doing that is affecting the members of our family, or we have the right to abuse anyone who doesnt agree with us on some points, to me rights of an individual should be exercised till the time it doesnt harm or trouble person but the time our right start acting as an incursion in someone’s happiness and belief then i believe that right should be revoked.
5. kashif says:

   July 4, 2007 at 9:56 pm

   actually the protest by children was against the new policy by Bihar government that will allow street side dhabas to sell alcoholic drink.

   “The policy allows a reduction in the fee for opening beer bars and factories. It will also permit the sale of liquor at ‘dhabas’ (roadside eateries) along national highways.”

   http://www.twocircles.net/2007jun30/schoolchildren_protest_bihars_liquor_policy.html

   If prohibition will not work then at least government should not make it easy that will make it easy for people to be tempted. And whoever came up with the idea of letting roadside dhabas to sell alcohol??? anyone heard of drunk driving problems?
6. Vichara says:

   July 4, 2007 at 10:03 pm

   All rights are subject to conditions. Conditions like “in exercising one’s rights others should not be armed
7. Amit says:

   July 5, 2007 at 5:07 pm

   Zartab:

   While I don’t think there should be a liquor shop on every corner (and definitely not on a highway), I disagree that banning liquor shops is the best solution. If the majority population agrees and decides in a democratic manner that they don’t want liquor shops in their area, then that’s fine and that’s how democracies (ideally) function – open debate, everyone has a vote.

   Let’s assume that people who want to ban all liquor shops somehow get their wish. Do you really think that someone who likes alcohol (like the dad) won’t go crazy because of lack of alcohol and won’t beat up his kids and wife because he’s frustrated? How about the illicit trade in bootleg liquor that will spring up because of prohibition? A lot more people die because of consuming bootleg liquor.

   I think there is a responsible way to consume liquor and there is an irresponsible way, and you would agree that not everyone who drinks alcohol acts irresponsibly. It is up to the individual and his family to decide where that line is. If some people drink irresponsibly, why should the people who drink responsibly be denied their pleasure?

   And, I think one must make one’s mind strong so that it doesn’t give into the “temptations”, instead of banning the temptation. The temptations will always be there – it’s up to the individual to avoid them.

   If there is harsh sunlight on the path, instead of devising an elaborate plan to cover the sun, it is much easier to open an umbrella and continue walking. If there are stones on the road, it’s better that I wear good shoes that will protect my feet instead of walking bare-feet and complaining.
8. Zartab Haider says:

   July 5, 2007 at 11:02 pm

   Amit,

   I totally agree with your views, they are in the same line of my agruement, I have never said to close down the liquor shops, I just mentioned that Consuming Liquor should not drives us away from our responsibilities and one should restrain on his habit if there is a choice between Family and Liquor.
9. Sharique says:

   July 6, 2007 at 1:54 am

   Amit,

   I agree but then the government shouldn’t promote opening liquor shops in highways as it will lead to drunken driving and this in turn will lead to accidents.

   Regarding liquor shops in other places, well alcohol is one of the biggest problem government faces; an increase in price would lead to men beating and extorting money from their families and a decrease in price would lead to beating from drunken dads. The best way is to devise a plan to reduce poverty and perhaps stricter rules from alcohols shops…not like the one Bihar govt. passed.
10. Amit says:

    July 6, 2007 at 7:37 am

    Sharique:

    You are right that the government shouldn’t be in the business of opening liquor shops on a highway. Seems like there wasn’t much thought put into that decision.