News Tamil Nadu

“Alcohol Is Injurious To Health, Yet They Add The Advisory In Small Letters And Sell”, Says VCK Chief Thirumavalavan

September 12, 2024
The Commune

The Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) has called for an alcohol prohibition conference in Kallakurichi, the site of a recent hooch tragedy that claimed over 60 lives. He invited all political parties that support the prohibition policy, including the AIADMK, to participate in the conference.

Speaking at an event, he said, “Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi is placing an important and principal request to the DMK and all alliance party members – National Policy, ban on alcohol/liquor and eradication of drugs.”

The VCK chief then went on to describe what alcohol is and about TASMAC. He said, “What does alcohol comprise? Beer, wine, whisky, brandy and several trademarks are there. Earlier the government used to sell Kedamark liquor. Now they have named it as TASMAC. Some people call it TASMARK – it is not so. They have made it a TASMAC corporation for alcohol sales. They appointed IAS officers. If anyone sells illicit liquor, they will send police to arrest them and tell them that this (TASMAC) is good liquor, sell this and drink only this. Like Dr Sivaraman who spoke earlier said, alcohol is poison. If tobacco is injurious to a human, then it is important that you alert the people that even alcohol is injurious to health. When you go to cinema theatres, the first thing you see is those advertisements on cancer after consuming/smoking beedis and cigarettes. Alcohol is bad for our homes and our country. That’s all. Liquor is injurious to health. They add this advisory in small letters and sell.”

Speaking on cigarettes and alcohol being causes of cancer, he said, “Smoking cigarettes can be fatal – why – because it causes cancer, but alcohol also causes cancer, that is what Dr Sivaraman said. They distil country liquor differently. They are distilling IMFL – Indian Made Foreign Liquor, the ones you get in shops today. Beer has less alcohol content, wine and spirits have 30-35% alcohol content, and the rest is water, flavouring agents, colouring agents, and preservatives. Alcohol is called Ethanol in chemistry. Ethanol is a type of acid. It will cause ulcers in the stomach. The digestive tract is also affected. Then the central nervous system is affected – the brain and spinal cord are some of the most important parts of the body. The brain controls all the activities we do through the nerves. The brain also controls us to drink alcohol, eat meat and get us addicted.”

Explaining how hooch was made, the VCK chief said, “IMFL is what we get – why do we consume foreign liquor because our Tamil Nadu’s liquor varieties are practically unavailable. What is country liquor – they distill it from tree barks and add things which will give the drinker a high. They add thorn apple to it. It contains alkaloids. Some herbivores die after eating such alkaloids, this is like that. They also add pig bladder to it, not many know about it. They add it because it eats a lot of things. They add battery cells. It is called “ooral” when marinated. Some drink this and they stink. I know the smell because I worked in that department. I worked in the Forensic Science department in Prohobition and Excise for some time. Police would bring this ooral also when they catch people distilling illicit liquor. When they open it, the smell is so pungent. When you distill that further, you get colourless liquor.”

Subscribe to our Telegram, WhatsApp, and Instagram channels and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.