A LIQUOR UPROAR

The setting: snow-covered Gulmarg.

- By Kaleem Geelani

The occasion: The Elle India fashion show featuring creations—capes, pant suits, skiwear as well as bikinis—by Delhi-based designers Shivan & Narresh. As the models walked down the snow-covered ramp, viewers sat on low-slung chairs, some apparently sipping alcohol. But as videos and images of the show on March 7 were released, it roused the collective anger and indignation of Kashmir. What incensed Kashmiris was the fact that such an “outrageous and immodest” event took place in the holy month of Ramzan, disregarding local sensibilities in the Muslim-majority region. Notes of shocked disapproval came from the very top. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah clarified in the assembly, “This was a private party, organised it privately, in a private hotel and distributed their invitation cards privately. No permission was taken from the government, no...government official was involved.” The venue of the show was the Nedous Hotel, owned by the relatives of Omar. The organisers have been summoned by a Srinagar court to appear before it.

The uproar rekindled the continuing demand for prohibition of liquor in Jammu and Kashmir and came as a shot in the arm for the People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) new campaign on the back of a private member bill moved by its Kupwara MLA Fayaz Ahmad Mir on February 10. It seeks a blanket ban on the sale and consumption of liquor in J&K.