18 July, New Delhi: Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) demands complete prohibition in the state of Uttar Pradesh after the hooch tragedy in Etah that has claimed 26 lives so far.

Secretary General of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Muhammad Salim Engineer said that: ‘’it is high time that complete prohibition is imposed in Uttar Pradesh as has been done in the neighboring state of Bihar. We are saddened by the tragedy and feel that alcohol which is termed by Islam as ‘’the mother of all evils’’ must be banned as it is not only bringing death and destruction to many but is also damaging the social and moral fabric of society.

The JIH Secretary General continued: ‘’ we demand immediate arrest of the culprits and proper medical attention to the survivors. Jamaat appreciates the role of social and political actors and the media in supporting the call for prohibiting this menace. We categorically reject the excuse given by various State governments that banning alcohol would seriously compromise the revenue they earn by way of taxing the alcohol industry.

The cost that the government has to bear in terms of trying to prevent the crimes committed under the influence of alcohol, the various medical and health expenses that are caused by such tragedies and various diseases due to alcoholism, the breakdown in the family system and the abundance of court cases and litigation because of alcohol, is far greater than the income accrued by the government by taxing the alcohol industry. Jamaat-e-Islami Hind believes that our Creator and Sustainer has prohibited alcohol and other intoxicants precisely for these reasons’’.