Imkong Walling
The Nagaland Liquor Total Prohibition (NLTP) Act remains a delicate topic, particularly so for the state government, which enacted the law over thirty years ago. It is so sensitive that the topmost authority (government) of the Act treats it like the proverbial elephant.
Infact, hardly has anyone opposed to the law dared to talk about it in the public domain before the advent of social media. The equation has changed today with more and more people talking about it. Only, there is no known empirical data providing legitimacy to the arguments on both sides of the NLTP divide.
Coincidental or not, not long after a rumoured government move to review the NLTP Act, a request made by a collective of “elders” has hit the right note. The forum calling itself the Dimapur Christian Elders’ Voice, has called for an “in-depth systematic and evidence-based research” by the state government “to analyse alcoholism in the Naga society before and after the NLTP Act was implemented.”
“In doing so, we believe that the decision taken on the future of the said Act would be a rational and scriptural one,” the forum said in a statement released to the press on November 20.
On the face of it, the call of the forum sounds justified given the implication of empirical data on matters of policy. However, the forum’s statement was also not without contradiction.
While it called for in-depth research to evaluate the impact of alcoholism in the Naga society prior to and post the Act, it contradicted itself by making claims without the support of factual data. According to the forum, “The state witnessed a massive improvement in the lives of people, especially from alcoholism” when the Act first came into force.” In their words, anti-NLTP advocates purportedly are not aware of this “crucial fact,” which came without attestable data.
It even went so far as to dub the financial implication of legalising alcohol on the economy as “superficial.” On the contrary, revenue data of alcohol-legal states points otherwise.
Furthermore, there was supposedly “rise in divorce cases, street violence, vehicle accidents, the poor performance of students in their studies, financial crisis, so on and so forth,” before the NLTP Act and it said, “We fear that history might repeat itself if the Act is repealed.” Like the preceding claim, this was circumstantial at best.
It though pointed out one thing that advocates on both sides of the divide would agree on: “Despite the NLTP Act, Nagaland continues to deal with the problem of alcoholism as liquor still flows freely in the state.”
There is no denying that alcohol without limits is harmful and destroy lives, on the same breath, it is as much important to realise that outlawing alcohol is not practical.
Coming back to the question of evidence-based research, it is sorely required. To make an optimistic guess, it would put to rest the argument once and for all. Are the policy-makers listening?
The writer is a Principal Correspondent at The Morung Express. Comments can be sent to imkongwalls@gmail.com
