कश्मीर में शराब की बिक्री: हमारी संस्कृति और भविष्य पर हमला!

*Liquor Promotion in Kashmir: An Assault on Our Faith, Culture and Future* Friday Speech :- >>Miraize Kashmir moulvi Omar Fartooq Feed ;-2c *Call for Immediate Government Intervention to Stop Liquor Shop in Batmaloo; If Government Fails, Ulema, Civil Society and Public Will Be Forced to Protest* Friday Address at Jama Masjid by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq | Srinagar, July 04, 2025. Today, I want to draw the attention of the people and the authorities towards a very serious and disturbing development. A notice by the Batmaloo traders and business community for public information states that they are closing down shops for three days to protest the opening of a liquor shop in the area, asking the authorities to intervene and take immediate action. This is very disturbing and totally unacceptable to the people of Kashmir. It is an assault on our religious, cultural and societal ethos, and a complete disregard for it — a deliberate attempt to ruin our people and our future generations. Already we are grappling with the menace of drug addiction and now the authorities are promoting liquor to further ruin the people and our societal and cultural fabric. The authorities know fully well that J&K being a Muslim majority state, consumption of liquor is against the tenets of Islam and against our cultural and societal values, yet it is being promoted. Why don’t they promote it in Gujarat which is a dry state — why J&K? Hasn’t tourism flourished here for decades without liquor, as this is the common ridiculous argument made? I ask the Omar Abdullah government to immediately intervene and ensure that this action is stopped. It is their duty to ensure that such proposals are nipped in the bud itself. If they fail, then the ulemas, civil society and people in general will have no option but to protest and come out against this assault.