Bhopal: Hurling stone at liquor shop act of protest, says Uma Bharti

Justifying her action of throwing a stone at a liquor shop in Bhopal, senior BJP leader and former chief minister Uma Bharti on Monday asked the Madhya Pradesh government to immediately close down alcohol shops and 'ahatas' that are operating in prohibited areas in violation of rules.

As per government rules, liquor shops are not allowed near schools and places of worship in the state.

In a letter to chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Bharti, who has been demanding a total ban on liquor in the BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, said the government should at least shut down those liquor shops and 'ahatas' (enclosed places in vicinity of these outlets) that are operating in prohibited areas (near schools and religious places). The former Union minister shot off the letter a day after she walked into a liquor shop in Bhopal and hurled a stone at alcohol bottles kept on a shelf there. In the letter, the BJP leader explained the circumstances in which she vandalized the liquor shop. At the request of women from the Barkheda Pathani area of the city, I went to meet them. They told me that in the vicinity of a liquor shop, there is a labourer colony which has schools and temples. These women have been agitating for the last three years to get the liquor shop closed, but in vain," she said. Bharti said she was moved by the plight of women in the area and assured them to take up the issue with the government.

The administration had given them assurances several times, but nothing has happened so I assured them to take up the issue with the government. Some of the women with tears in their eyes told me that men after drinking liquor relieve themselves in the open at the back of the shop. This is very embarrassing for women and girls residing in the colony Bharti said. At that point, I asked those near the shop to move aside... picked up a stone and throw it with full force to damage the liquor bottles in protest, she said. Bharti asserted her act was to protect the "honour" of women and girls residing in the residential colony. For long, the firebrand BJP leader had been demanding total prohibition in the state and had met Chouhan in the past over the issue. The CM had told her that for achieving the goal of total prohibition, government and social organisations will run an awareness campaign. Bharti had said whenever such a campaign is launched, she will take part in it.