The two frontier states on the west and east,Gujarat and Mizoram,are different from each other in many respects. But there is something they share in common-Prohibition law. These are the only two dry states in the country. The grounds of implementation of the law are,however,different. In Gujarat,prohibition law is based on Gandhian ideology,while in Mizoram,it is the Church that leads the way. Addiction to alcohol and narcotics was once rampant in Mizoram,which prompted the Church,backed by the people (95 per cent of Mizos are Christians),to favour a total ban on liquor. As early as the mid-1980s,even before Mizoram attained statehood,leaders of the Church as well as civil society pushed for prohibition. In Gujarat,ever since the Special Enforcement Department was disbanded,the police have been enforcing the law. In Mizoram,enforcement of the Mizoram Liquor Total Prohibition (MLTP) Act of 1995 lies with the specially-formed Excise and Narcotics Department,but it is the youth groups that handle most of the policing,mainly through NGOs. Round-the-clock control rooms run by the Young Mizo Association (YMA),which also double up as YMA branches,are located in every neighbourhood. There are 700-odd such branches across the state. On special occasions such as Christmas and New Year,groups of young men and women huddle around bonfires on major neighbourhood squares under cardboard boxes that have YMA DUTY printed on them and are illuminated from the inside. They keep tabs on the neighbourhood for any bootlegging,along with routine police patrol. The help we receive from the society and the NGOs is invaluable. As a department,we do not have enough manpower,and these NGOs know their own areas much better than we do. So,they know the bootleggers,where they operate and where they brew liquor, said Lalbiakmawia Khiangte,Commissioner,Excise and Narcotics Department,Government of Mizoram. The YMA,which is the biggest NGO in Mizoram with a member strength of 3.5 lakhs,had adopted Liquor-and-narcotics-free Mizoram as a theme for three years from 2005 to 2008. They helped the police raid liquor dens deep inside the jungles and ravines and even nabbed bootleggers and drunkards for them. When we nab offenders and threaten them,they know our limits as a government arm. But with the YMA or any other NGO,they get really scared, Khiangte said. In contrast,in Gujarat,community policing is confined to a few women groups,particularly in south Gujarat,where alcoholism is rampant. But the police are often displeased with their activities. The aggressive community policing in Mizoram has its flip side too. Stray incidents of offenders being caught and beaten-up before being handed over to police,with a few cases resulting in death,have blotted the reputation of YMAs wing called Supply Reduction Service (SRS),which is now non-functional after it adopted a new social theme. Khiangte,however,said that because of the combing operations,no bootlegger dares to do business from his home and no person drinks openly. Our towns and cities are safe for women and children,anytime of the day, Khiangte added. Incidentally,even before the 1995 Act,a rescue home had been set up by Synod,the administrative wing of the Presbyterian Church of Mizoram,the states largest Christian denomination,to rehabilitate alcohol and narcotic addicts. But now,its not just Synod and other denominations; anyone who is passionate about rehabilitating addicts has set-up centres of his own, said Robert Halliday,coordinator of Synod Social Front,a Synod wing that handles issues of aid and rehabilitation. While it is only after the Ahmedabad hooch tragedy that the Gujarat government has proposed strict laws like life and death sentences to offenders in case of liquor-related deaths,in Mizoram,civil society groups have stood firm for almost 15 years. In 1999,the MLTP was amended,cutting leniency for first-time offenders and those caught with lesser quantity of alcohol. Last month,all the proposals were rejected - including a move that would allow the consumption and sale of beer,when the Mizoram Law Commission approached the Church and NGOs . In contrast,Gujarat has already relaxed prohibition laws for SEZs in the state.
