Ao Baptist Arogo Mungdang (ABAM) along with Nagaland Baptist Church Council and all stakeholders have called for continuing and strengthening the Nagaland Liquor Total Prevention (NLTP) Act, 1989 and vehemently opposed its lifting.
In a statement, ABAM executive secretary Rev Dr Mar Pongener noted that much had been said, written and debated about the Act and varying proposals had been put forth by different stakeholders. While the proponents of the government seemed to lament loss of possible revenue for the State and how Assam continued to benefit from the Act, he said there were also those who were concerned about the inflow of spurious liquor into Nagaland because of this Act and how it destroyed the health of the consumers.
While both the concerns were understandable, he asserted that alcohol in itself did not have a lot of positive qualities. Mentioning that it destroyed the health of an individual, Pongener claimed there were no cases of health improving due to the consumption of alcohol. Besides health, he said human relationships bore the brunt of alcohol abuse in the family and community. Further, neither the financial condition of the individual or of the family improved due to alcohol consumption, he added.
According to ABAM, the only group that stood to benefit from alcohol were those who manufactured it, earned an income from it as tax revenue and sold it.
While the ratio of those who benefited most probably were just a miniscule, he said the people were at the receiving end.
Recalling that it was a people’s movement under the leadership of the church, he said the church saw the ill-effects of alcohol in the society. The church was a witness to lives it damaged, relationships it destroyed, dreams it snuffed and communities it reduced to hopelessness.
While alcoholism ravaged lives, many Nagas were far from being responsible consumers of alcohol. Therefore, he said the church took upon itself as a moral responsibility to safeguard a promising nation and once again raise the level of self-respect of a people in crisis. The tears of Naga mothers and the prayers of church leaders were collective a cry for the restoration and redemption of a people, he added.
Pongener declared that just because it did not work for Americans or other western countries did not mean likewise everywhere. He said the morality of western nations must not be used as an ideal yardstick for Nagas.
“If a house is dirty and filled with cobwebs, you don’t burn it. Rather, you clean it. So also must the NLTP Act, 1989,” he emphasised.
Admitting that there were loopholes that must be immediately addressed, he however urged the government not to look at the Act in a half-hearted matter. He said there should be the will to ensure it was effective and that systems and mechanisms were put in place to strengthen it.
He mentioned that ABAM saw the Act as a “spiritual bridle” that safeguarded Nagas against the ill-effects of alcohol in the community. He acknowledged that the church and all its partners needed to do more in its advocacy and care programmes.
Towards this end, Pongener declared that ABAM was committed to ensuring that greater and more comprehensive advocacy messages were disseminated and that adequate and appropriate services, along with pastoral care, were provided.
He admitted that more required to be done, especially for those affected by alcoholism and their families. And towards all these strategies, he said the church was firm in its commitment and remained resolute in its call for the building of lives.
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