Congress election slogan should be -- Jai Ho: Pub Bharo--

The survey found that nearly 44.4 per cent of Class 12 students hadconsumed alcohol in the survey period. Instead of looking at thesefacts, Sonia Gandhi and Renuka Chowdhury are planning to use theso-called Mangalore pub incident as a political weapon. They don’tseem to realise what damage they are doing to India by theirirresponsible behaviour.Congress president Sonia Gandhi is reported to have said that she willfight the upcoming national elections on two issues: One concerningthe attack on a pub in Mangalore and the other concerning thedemolition of the Babri Masjid. The best advice that one can give toher is: Don’t. On both issues, she will pay for her folly. The Muslimcommunity in India will do the greatest good to itself and to itsrelations with the majority community if it graciously concedes theRam Janmabhoomi to its Hindu claimants and not stand on prestige. Allthese years the Muslims have allowed themselves to be exploited byso-called ‘secularists’ and have needlessly alienated themselves frommainstream India, reaping no benefit whichever way. It has doneneither the Muslims nor the Hindus any good. The time has come for theMuslims to change their mindset and concede graciously to the Hindus’claimand thereby win the hearts and souls of their fellow citizens. TheMuslims will lose nothing thereby.On the other hand, they will gain the eternal gratitude of Hindus towhom the Ram Janmabhoomi has tremendous emotional significance. Onepositive step and that will strengthen Hindu-Muslim unity as neverbefore. To both Muslims and Hindus it will be a win-win situation. Byattempting to widen the gulf between the two communities Sonia Gandhiwill render immense harm to the country which she professes to serve.A word to the wise should suffice. As for the Mangalore pubcontroversy, it has been plainly overplayed for political reasons andstatements have been made by Congress leaders that call for strongcondemnation.According to Renuka Chowdhury, Women and Child Development Ministerthere has been “a complete breakdown of law and order in Karnataka”.Nothing of that sort has happened and by making such highlyprovocative remarks, the Minister has only hurt her own party’schances at the forthcoming polls. Complete breakdown of law and order?Really? What happened in Mumbai during the jehadi siege? Was it anexample of high maintenance of law and order with the blood of acouple of hundred innocent people staining the earth? Mangaloreans cando without the patronage of the likes of Renuka Chowdhury and herboss. Besides, in the matter of young people visiting pubs, is theMinister aware of what is happening right under her nose in thecapital?According to a survey conducted by an NGO, called Campaign AgainstDrunken Driving (CADD) “nearly 80 per cent of those visiting pubs andbars in the Indian capital are below the age of 25 and that of theunder-age population at Delhi’s pubs 67 per cent are below 21 years ofage”. It would seem that Delhi’s excise laws ban the sale of liquor toor by anyone below 25 years and if an underage person is caughtconsuming alcohol, or if the vendor is caught, it could mean a fine ofRs 10,000. The CADD study found the laws ineffective, as nearly 33.9per cent of those below the age of 16 easily procure alcohol fromgovernment–authorised liquor shops, bars and pubs.According to a press report, the law also prohibits any person belowthe age of 25 years to be employed at any bar or pub and the offenceis punishable with a fine of Rs 50,000 or imprisonment of three monthsto be levied on the outlet. Says a report in the Free Press Journal:(February 2) “Still nearly 55 per cent of those working as serviceattendants in bars and restaurants are young boys and girls below theage of 25. The research was conducted from December 2008 to January2009 among 1,000 youth who go to the pubs and bars. Nearly 85 per centof the youth surveyed were in the age group of 14-21, even though thelegal drinking age is 25 years”.Can one believe that youngsters between the ages of 14 and 21 visitpubs and that too, in Delhi, where the government is run by theCongress party under the leadership of Sheila Dixit? How many of the youthfulpub-patrons have ever been arrested and how many of the pubs have hadto pay a fine? And what have Renuka Chowdhury and Sonia Gandhi to sayabout these revelations? According to the survey, in Delhi, annuallyabout 2,000 youths under age 21 die from motor vehicle crashes, otherunintentional injuries, homicides and suicides that involve underagedrinking. Prince Singhal founder of CADD is quoted as saying:“Underage drinking is a prelude to drunk driving and thus it isimportant to curb it in the initial stages, so that it does not end upas a habit among young individuals”.Another startling fact revealed was that the drinking age in Delhi hasgone down from 28 to 19 years since 1990. CADD estimates that inanother five to seven years, this figure may come down to 15 years.The survey found that it is not binding for liquor serving outlets orvends to verify the age of the consumer. But the survey found thatnearly 44.4 per cent of Class 12 students had consumed alcohol in thesurvey period. Instead of looking at these facts, Sonia Gandhi andRenuka Chowdhury are planning to use the so-called Mangalore pubincident as a political weapon. They don’t seem to realise what damagethey are doing to India by their irresponsible behaviour.Should we say that there is no law and order in Delhi? Obviously thereisn’t and the police look the other way when teenagers visit pubs. Wedo not have any information on how long these visitors stay at the bar or howmuch liquor they drink. Parents obviously are either unaware of whatis going on or couldn’t care less. One might damn the Shri Ram Sena toone’s heart’s content for using violence, but at least they seem tocare enough. At this point in time we have no statistics as to how oldthe girls serving drinks are and how many teenagers have beenattending the Mangalore pub.According to the CADD survey it is not binding for liquor servingoutlets or vends to verify the age of the consumer; that can onlyencourage the youngsters to take advantage of such a situation. Thatall this is happening in Delhi and under a Congress administrationsuggests not only a weak government that does not care for people buta leadership that is engaged more in talk than in action. Beforetaking up the Mangalore pub issue as a stone to hit at the BJP, SoniaGandhi would do well to set right matters within her own politicaljurisdiction. Both Sonia Gandhi and Renuka Chowdhury surely know whatthe Bible says: Judge not, least ye be judged.