JNUSU prez against ban on alcohol at nat'l level

Patna: Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar on Saturday supported prohibition in Bihar, but said implementing it at the national level would be against the democratic rights guaranteed to people by the Constitution of India.
"In Bihar, prohibition is good because many people used to spend their day's earning on liquor.Incidents of domestic violence under the influence of alcohol were common. Alcoholism was the reason for many a petty crime too," Kanhaiya said and added one needed to factor in many such issues while deciding whether prohibition is good or not for a particular place.
The Bihar native, who has been in the news ever since a function was held on the JNU campus on February 9 allegedly in support of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, is in Patna on a two-day visit to the state.
The JNUSU president, however, said one's principled position in view of our Constitution rights would be that those wishing to drink should be allowed to drink. "That's why I say nationwide prohibition will violate people's freedom of choice," he said.
Kanhaiya regretted that students union polls had not been held in Bihar universities for two-three decades. Pointing out that most of the prominent politicians from Bihar were a product of campus politics, he said it was every student's right to take part in university polls and urged the state government to conduct student body polls in all universities.
Asked about CM Nitish Kumar's remark that Kanhaiya would become a big leader, he said, "That's his opinion, but I'm only a student leader, not a politician. My bank account has only Rs 200 as my fellowship was discontinued in July last year."
In response to another question, he said his ideals were Karpoori Thakur and Sahajanand Saraswati, not Afzal Guru. "However, there's a need to address the reasons for terrorism. Only taking a moral stand will not do," he said, adding what's wrong or right would be decided by the law of the land.
The JNUSU president, who hails from a poor farmer's family of a Begusarai village, said he felt awkward to talk formally to people in his own state. Asked if the government was doing a good job, he said, "If it won't, people would question it, but everything cannot be made right overnight." He met a number of people, including his family members, at the CPI office.