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Krittivas Mukherjee in Calcutta
Fed up with the drinking habits of their men, women in rural West Bengal are striking at the root of their woes: The numerous illegal country liquor dens and other seedy joints in their neighbourhoods.
"We will not allow the men to spoil our as well as their lives," say the womenfolk of Jadavbati, Behala Bazaar, Gourhati, Hazra Para, Ram Bazaar, Barowari, Faterchak and Brindavan villages in Hooghly district.
The women mean business and are determined do everything to keep their men away from the bottle.
They have found an ally in the district police in the crackdown on the nearly 50 liquor dens in the eight villages.
The block authorities have also assured all possible help to the women, who have raided a few illegal dens.
"We try to reason with the owners of these liquor dens. If they agree to shut down, that's good. If they don't, then we use force," says one woman.
There has been no backlash from the liquor mafia so far.
"The young are also getting attracted to the bottle. The boys bunk school and go to the liquor dens," says Israful Begum of Faterchak village.
Israful is a victim of the bottle. Her husband does menial jobs only when he runs out of money. The rest of the time he can be found inebriated at the bhatis (liquor dens).
"My husband spends all the money on alcohol and gives nothing to the family. He also beats me when he returns home at night. There is no peace in the house," says Mira Haza of Hazra Para.
Interestingly, most men are not protesting against the women's 'audacity'. But these women could not care less if they did.
The campaign has also caught the fancy of the local activists of the ruling Communist Party of India - Marxist and the opposition Trinamool Congress, both of whom have pledged support to the women's movement.
Indo-Asian News Service
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