Irked over liquor vend, residents block Bathinda-Badal Road

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, May 31

Irked over the opening of a liquor vend near a temple and in an area that has majority of Dalit population, residents of Jai Singhwala village today protested against the liquor vend by blocking the Bathinda-Badal village Road near Jai Singh Wala village and demanded shifting of the liquor vend immediately.

It is pertinent to mention that members of the Dalit community of the village have been protesting against the liquor vend for sometime, but nobody paid attention to their grievance. Even the majority members of the panchayat are supporting the residents in shifting of the liquor vend.

The protesters have given in writing for the shifting of the liquor vend to the SAD halqa in-charge Paramjit Kaur Gulshan, officials of the district administration officials, officials of the Excise and Taxation Department and the SHO Sangat police station but in vain.

State leader, Dihati Mazdoor Sabha, Mithu Singh, and the BKU Ekta Ugrahan that took part in the protest for their support, demanded that the district administration should immediately shift the liquor vend from there.

They stated that on one side, the state government is claiming of fighting against the drugs and on another hand is increasing the numbers of liquor vends in the state and they are even not honoring the religious places.

DSP, Gurmeet Singh Kingra, along with police officials also reached the spot to pacify the protestors and open the road for the commuters. But village residents remained adamant on their demand and refused to lift the protest. Later, DSP Gurmeet Singh Kingra fixed their meeting with the ETO for tomorrow, after which the protest was called off.

The commuters had to suffered badly and had to use linked roads from inside the villages.