Police quell protest for closure of liquor shops

Chennai

The movement describing itself Makkal Athigaram planned an agitation called “Close Tasmac shops” at the chief regional office of Tasmac, in Egmore. About 200 protesters, including some women, who gathered near the Egmore railway station and tried to march to the Tasmac office were dispersed by the police personnel. There were scenes of forcible arrests and resistance by the agitators, some of whom were taken away by the police before the siege of the Tasmac office could take place.

At the venue, the movement, claiming to have branches in Chennai, Kancheepuram and Thiruvallur districts, distributed a pamphlet which alleged that chief minister J Jayalalithaa was staging a political drama of step-by-step closure of liquor shops and had done nothing in the last five years when she was in power.

But now the situation had totally changed and no party could go to the people for votes without advocating prohibition.

The outfit also claimed that its supporters were put in Chennai and Cuddalore prisons when they staged an agitation to press for the closure of Tasmac shops. The government was hell-bent on crushing the movement against liquor shops because it was hand in glove with the liquor barons.   

Prohibition was being implemented in Bihar and Kerala now. While elections had been used by parties to test their strength and come to power, there was no solution available for the fundamental problems of the people like alcoholism.

No one needed to wait for the elections to close the liquor shop at the street corner. True prohibition was possible only if the people involved themselves in a full fledged manner and struggled against Tasmac shops, the outfit declared.