Prohibition in Manipur, which began in the 1990s is an outcome of sustained protest and objections from civil societies. Their objections were primarily toward alcoholism and domestic violence. Concurrently, alcohol and its consumption were seen as a menace to society. Alcohol and its cultural aspects also have a place in communities’ way of life from the past to the present. It nurtures the way of life as much as how it also gives rise to social evils like alcoholism. Considering the cultural aspect and how certain communities are tied to it, the state took cognisance of them.
The acknowledgement as such is reflected in the Manipur Liquor Prohibition Act, which was implemented in 1991, wherein the act states that it will allow the brewing of alcohol in scheduled caste and scheduled tribe communities for cultural and ritual aspects.
The current protest in response to the move by the Manipur state government to partially remove the prohibition in mid-September 2022, opens unanswered questions and situations created out of prohibitions and the significance of alcohol to certain communities. The public debate and discourse on alcohol often undermine the interests and concerns of indigenous communities who brew alcohol for cultural purposes, ritual practices and consumption. They have always been brewing alcohol using indigenous methods. The commercialisation factor in their alcohol brewery is a recent phenomenon. There are underlying factors when it comes to commercialising their alcohol products.
For instance, the Kabui community, (also known as Rongmei) inhabiting the valley of Manipur (Imphal and adjoining areas) due to a lack of livelihood opportunities, commercialise alcohol breweries for economic reasons. This is more or less the same for the Sekmai popular brewery, the Andro, and that of the Phayeng. Additionally, communities that brew alcohol have been at the lower stratum of society in terms of social, economic and political status. They find alcohol breweries as a means to support their families and be economically tenable in catching up with the order of society in the present.
Every house of Kabui, barring a section that follows Christianity, consists of pots containing alcohol and rice beer. Sections of Kabui who follow Christianity do not brew and sell alcohol for religious reasons. Before they followed Christianity, they were said to be involved in the brewery of liquor. Among the Kabui, women folk brew alcohol both for traditional and commercial purposes.
After the prohibition in Manipur state, women took up additional burdens in terms of selling alcohol, how they are subjected to the prohibition act, societal morality, and treatment, etc. Association with alcohol is considered a social evil in the societies of Manipur, and it is considered to be of low status and more so for women who brew and sell alcohol. The excise department of the state often intercepts brewing alcohol. In the lack of alternatives and also the significance of how alcohol holds in their way of life, they continue to brew both for cultural aspects and commercial purposes.
After the prohibition, the women folk found themselves in a precarious situation, for they often brew alcohol for commercial purposes in the early hours of the morning or late at night to escape the reach of the excise department. This was the case in the first few decades after the prohibition came into being. In such a set-up, women often lose their sleep and time to sustain their economic activity in alcohol selling. Moreover, the working condition and selling are unhealthy for women in the set-up they rely on for brewing and selling.
They must constantly carry out their work keeping in mind the excise department and their surprise raids. Moreover, the customers for alcohol considering prohibition also come to their houses to drink and buy at any time of the day and night. Women must ensure that they are available to cater to customers’ convenient times. This also has its effect on the parenting role of their children where children are often left to themselves.
With prohibition in place, there is a lack of recognition of commercialised alcohol and the conditions of working place and women brewers. They also fall out of the larger ambit of instilling dignity in work enshrined in the ILO’s decent work and the provision of the trade union. Rather the women folk rely on their traditional village institutions and women’s society to bring forth their interests and demands concerning alcohol breweries for commercial purposes. They make use of these platforms to negotiate with the state and civil societies. Through such mechanisms, the alcohol industry survived the challenges to an extent, yet they are still not without challenges to alleviate their social and economic conditions.
The prohibition in the state makes not much difference to the demands for alcohol and its consumption, considering the recently-released National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5), 2019-21 where Manipur is one of the states in India for high consumption of alcohol. The lifting of prohibition can lead to recognition of the alcohol industry in several villages in Manipur. This can also open a window to attend to the working condition and the needs and interests of women workers. It will also be easier to look into cases of alcoholism.
A proper intervention can be implemented to prevent people from falling into alcoholism, or those who are already suffering from alcoholism, and exploitative working conditions of the indigenous alcohol industry too. The legalisation of alcohol must not be interpreted as commercialisation on a larger scale, considering the resources intrinsic to Manipur and its limitation. Rather legalisation can lead to open dialogue and a way forward by including all the stakeholders in the alcohol industry.
The black market for alcohol continues to flourish despite the state’s and several groups’ efforts to ban alcohol production, sale, and consumption. Alcohol finds its place irrespective of whether they are banned or not. The concerns around alcohol, especially domestic violence, are more to do with sexism and masculinity.
People must address these issues and not allow men to resort to alcohol as an excuse to wield violence and justify irresponsibility. The legalisation of alcohol can mean to communities that brew and sell alcohol formally recognising their cultures and customs and the lack of livelihood opportunities and working conditions.
The lifting of prohibition must be seen as a path to instilling dignity in the lives of people straddling between commercialisation and practising their cultures. It also offers a possibility to attend to and remove stereotypes attached to the community that brews alcohol. Moreover, regulating the alcohol industry can make the authority to address and curb alcohol-related issues like health, and alcoholism, and establish rehabilitation centres for people with drinking issues. The state must work towards looking into underlying issues and includes the voices of everyone especially giving more attention to those in the margins.
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