Tipplers give two hoots to ULFA

Guwahati, Oct 06: Whatever comes in their way, the tipplers are unstoppable and irresistible and are always raring to go.

They had given two hoots to the ULFA diktat and forced the wine shops all over Asom to defy the militants.

Playing moral police, the ULFA had asked owners of the wine shops not to open their outlets before 7 PM on weekdays and on Sundays, shops can be opened only after 2 PM. The ULFA also asked the shops not to sell liquor to students.

'' Who cares? '' - is the unanimous and obvious answer from the tippler's community as Asom has one of the highest wine shop densities in the whole country having more than 1093 government authorised shops with Guwahati alone having close to 300.

''Are you mad,'' is the shocking answer of Prasanta Hazarika, Mrinmoy Basumatari and Pankaj Goswami, when asked whether they would abide by the ULFA diktat.

All have a chain of wine shops in Guwhati. '' We do not care.

Better they come and get some bottles from us and like past we are ready to give them free, '' said Mr Goswami, venting abuse and anger on the ULFA.

The ULFA, realising that their popular base has hit the rockbottom, returned to their Robin Hood days of 1990s, when they announced the stricture in their mouthpiece ''Freedom''. ULFA used to enforce such populist measures to grow their base in the late eighties and early nineties.

The outfit cited the trend of unruly behaviour among the youths under the influence of liquor as the reason for clamping such regulations.

On the ground, Guwahati alone has nine nightclubs, including one floating, in the past 12 months where the rush has not reduced since the strictures.

The ULFA too had realised the power of the tipplers. So neither had they not banned nor asked wine shops to stop it. The outfit clarified that its guidelines for wines should not be construed as an attempt to interfere with the tradition of drinking home brewed wine, a custom almost everywhere in rural Asom. But consumption of excessive alcohol should not be encouraged, it said. But who cares this gospel from a militant organisation! The shops continued to remain open since morning to late night doing brisk business.

Mr Alok Datta, general secretary of the All Asom India made Foreign liquor Retailers Association said wine shops could not fix or follow any business hours on their own, being guided by norms fixed by the government while issuing licenses.

'' For all practical purposes, we are running the business on behalf of the government, which has given us license to do so. We cannot open or close as we like. If we do so, our licenses can get cancelled, '' he said.

He was diplomatic but tipplers are not. '' The ULFA is promoting bootlegging to fill up their own kitty. I am sure they will now go to retailing themselves, '' said Gautam Barua, rushing home from a popular wine shop buying a scotch whisky for the night.

To make it official, Excise Minister Gautam Roy said that there was no question of the government making any change in the business timings fixed for the wine shops. Government rules stipulate that wine shops can remain open from 1000 hrs to 2200 hrs except on designated holidays, he said.

He, however, assured that special security may be given if someone approach police but blanket security to all is next to impossible.

The wine shops had also asked the ULFA to reconsider their stricture but for the tipplers, '' Who cares. Shop or no shop, wine will flow '' seems to be the ultimate motto.

UNI