Why on earth do we have prohibition of alcohol in Gujarat in the name of Gandhiji beats me, when the state of his birth has desecrated his name a multitude of times through the communal flare ups that political agencies choose to keep alive. It is the poorest of the poor who are the ones that face tragic consequences when the bootleggers sell spurious brews in the lure of intoxication, to bring release from the drudgery of poverty.
I have no moral issues about adults consuming alcohol and believe that bans and censorship only create a greater desire in society for the forbidden. We all know only too well which government agencies flourish with prohibition and how it helps perpetuate corruption. The Ahmadabad hooch case where the number of dead are mounting with each day only holds the attention of the elite momentarily There is the conscious divide between economic classes which are held firmly in place by the very same people so how then can we expect that they care for these stories of human tragedy. Serves them right would be the quiet contemptuous opinion many people would hold, and where necessary, pay lip service to keep up the appearance of concern. As far as our chief minister goes, he does not even think it necessary to visit these victims immediately because after all the elections are over, so why pretend at empathy for the down trodden for the next five years!
We can never make such stories our own because we feel superior in action at such moments. What fools we are in not understanding that human frailty to fail to make the right choice is every persons potential folly. But ride the high horse we will, and only when we fall from grace ourselves do we begin to comprehend that our redemption lies often from the helping hands that reach out to us at such times.
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