Opposition slams govt for using Bihar liquor deaths for "political mileage"
Dec 20, 2022
New Delhi [India], December 20 : Opposition parties in parliament in a joint statement on Tuesday slammed the Centre, accusing it of using the deaths due to spurious liquor in Bihar for "political mileage" and sending teams of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to non-BJP ruled states with an intent to destabilise governments there.
"We are saddened and shocked by the death of 38 people in Bihar caused by the consumption of spurious liquor. The Government of Bihar has taken stringent steps to tackle bootleggers and arrack makers. It has also deployed mass-outreach campaigns highlighting the dangers of consuming spurious liquor and reminding the people to prioritize their health," read the statement.
"However, the ruling regime has once again demonstrated that there is no tragedy that will not seek to leverage for its own political gain."
Following these tragic deaths, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) team rushed to the districts of Saran and Siwan in Bihar to investigate the hooch tragedy.
"The double standard of the Modi government is evidenced by the fact that from 2016, when prohibition was imposed by Bihar Government led by JDU-BJP, to 2021, there have been over 200 hooch-related deaths in the state, but the NHRC never felt the need to investigate any such incident, it added.
"Similarly, there are numerous other cases where the NHRC never demonstrated the slightest interest in such incidents. Some hooch tragedies which can easily be recalled in the last two years are in July 2022, over 45 people died, and several others were hospitalized after consuming spurious alcohol in villages of Ahmedabad, Surendranagar and Botad in Gujarat and in May 2021, around 36 people died due to consumption of spurious liquor in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh, etc."
In the year 2021, 782 persons lost their lives by consuming spurious liquor, of which 108 were from Madhya Pradesh alone and 104 were in Karnataka. In the last six years, 1322 persons died in Madhya Pradesh alone due to spurious liquor.
As per data placed in Lok Sabha, 6,954 persons died in the country between 2016 to 2021. Yet in none of these cases, has the NHCR demonstrated as keen an interest as it has done in the case of Bihar.
"We like-minded opposition parties condemn this brazen attempt to seek political mileage from such a devastating tragedy. We condemn the use of the NHRC in such a brazenly partisan and political manner which is an insult to the memory of those who have died as well as their families," it read.
It is apparent that NHRC is being sent only to the non-BJP-ruled states as the intent seems to be only to destabilise the opposition-ruled governments. Sadly, NHRC and NCPCR appear to have become the latest tools in the hands of the Modi Government after using ED, CBI, IT etc to target political opponents since the last 8 years."
"We hope the Modi Government will introspect and deploy valuable public resources towards serving the people instead of towards securing its own electoral prospects," it added.
