CHENNAI: With Opposition parties seeking to convert the death of Gandhian and anti-liquor activist Sasi Perumal into a rallying point for demanding prohibition, ostensibly with an eye on the 2016 Tamil Nadu Assembly polls, it is being argued that liquor trade must be regulated, if not given up entirely.
The police action against those demanding prohibition and the ransacking of a TASMAC liquor outlet in MDMK leader Vaiko’s hometown of Kalingapatti on Sunday, have led observers to believe that it is time for some positive reaction from the authorities.
“Even if declaring Tamil Nadu a dry State is not possible immediately, I feel the time has come to regulate the liquor trade by reducing the time of operation of TASMAC outlets and making alcohol unavailable to children and students,” said political commentator Govi Lenin.
According to him, the consensus among political parties on this issue is growing considering the fact that Tamil Nadu is the only State where liquor is being vended by a Government incorporated company for over a decade.
However, Assistant Professor C Lakshmanan of the Madras Institute of Development Studies felt that Sasiperumal’s death may not turn out to be a successful campaign vehicle for the Opposition. His observation is based on the premise that the environment in Tamil Nadu has been systematically de-politicised.
“The death of Sasi Perumal has not generated the response it should have. In a de-politicised environment, a few individuals and political parties have come out in his name. People as a whole have treated the Gandhian’s death as just another occurrence and have not come out in a big way with rallies, protests and fasts,” he argued.
Lakshmanan contended that our political parties had not created responsible citizens with a role in the larger public domain, “but only devotees who worship their leaders.” This reflects in the lack of response from the people to such deaths.
Disagreeing, DMK spokesperson Thamizhan Prasanna insisted that since all parties had joined the protest, this would “intensify and make a serious impact on the political scene.” The protests over the last two days were only the beginning, he claimed.
Accusing the Opposition of politicising the issue, AIADMK spokesperson C R Saraswathi said this would not impact the ruling party.
“We do not want to belittle Sasi Perumal’s death, but Opposition parties are using it to gain political mileage. In my view, the people are happy due to the good governance of ‘Puratchi Thalaivi’. Since the Opposition does not have any shortcomings to highlight, they are trying to exploit Sasi Perumal’s death to generate dissent among the people. But we are sure such attempts will not succeed,” she said.