Patna,(BiharTimes): Those who fought for prohibition for years and welcomed Nitish Kumar’s government for declaring Bihar a totally dry state on April 5 last are now opposed to the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Bill 2016, which was passed in the recently concluded Monsoon Session of the Bihar Assembly.

In a joint Press conference  Neelu, Nivedita Jha and Shazeena Rahat of Bihar Women’s Network and Sushila Sahay of Bihar Mahila Samaj said they would launch a state-wide movement if the government did not withdraw the controversial provisions in the new legislation.

According to the provisions of the new law women too would be responsible if any family member is found drunk or drinking. Besides, collective fines could be imposed on villages, towns or community if repeated violations of prohibition occur.

Neelu said that it was Bihar Women’s Network and other outfits which struggled against alcoholism when Nitish Kumar was encouraging sale of liquor for earning more revenue. Now the same chief minister is enacting such a law which would hurt the women most.

Nivedita Jha said chief minister Nitish Kumar must know that women are still not empowered to rule their husbands in a family. How can she stop her husband from consuming liquor who cannot even decide the number of children she would have?

“Not only would her husband beat her up if she resisted but later police would also put her behind bars. The Act, which was supposed to empower women, would become a tool to inflict atrocities on her,” she said.

Shazeena said the government’s motive behind enacting mew law was to bring down cases of atrocities on women but that is not happening and even crimes like rape are taking places. Instead of taking strict action against culprits, the government is adding provisions to the Act, which are only going to increase the difficulty for them.