Patna (The Hawk): As a result of Jitan Ram Manjhi, the previous chief minister of Bihar, Chirag Paswan, the current president of the Lok Janshakti Party Ram Vilas (LJPR), and MP of Jamui, has argued that tari is a natural beverage and that the state's prohibition on it should be lifted.
"Liquor and tari cannot be compared; tari cannot be categorised in the same way as liquor. Tari is a source of income for countless Pasi people. It is their only source of income "Paswan remarked.
"It is a naturally occurring juice made from palm trees. Only Nitish Kumar and his bureaucrats would understand how it became alcoholic. Every district in the state has developed a liquor manufacturing facility, and the police are allowing it to run "Added he.
"Nitish Kumar is seated in a spacious Patna home, while the destitute Pasi community members' present and future are in the dark. Nitish Kumar is blind to their situation. When they challenged the administration's practise of filing FIRs and detaining them for selling tari, the Patna state police brutally beat them and imprisoned them. Bihar's police and other law enforcement officials do not detain people involved in the unlawful sale of alcoholic beverages because they split the profits and the money moves from bottom to top "Paswan remarked.
On November 29, thousands of members of the Pasi community demonstrated in Patna, and the police used lathi charges to scatter them. On November 30, a day after the occurrence, Manjhi criticised the Nitish government and urged that tari be dropped from the category of alcoholic beverages. "Tari is a natural juice and excellent for the human body," he noted.
State Chief Secretary Amir Subhani defended the state administration, saying that "a few hours after manufacture, tari turned into an intoxicating drink due to fermentation in tari."
In Bihar, the Pasi group has a sizable voter base, and Nitish Kumar does not want to lose their support.
(Inputs from Agencies)