Ever since many of Indian states became wet soon
after independence in 1947, despite Gandhiji's protest at that time not
to encourage alcoholic drinks in any state, drinking problems among
the Indian population, in particular among the very poor, has become a
menace to the society. Alcohol is banned in some parts of India such as
Manipur and Gujarat, but it is legally consumed in the majority of
states. It is said 62.5 million people in India either drink or
occasionally drink alcohol just for fun. Since 1970s alcoholic
consumption has shown a dramatic change. After 1995, it has
increased markedly - a 106.7% increase in the per capita (this means
per individual in the population) consumption. Globally, India has
become one of the largest producers of alcoholic beverages. This fact
already drove many international breweries to move into this country as
the market potential was and is way high. and they could make a bundle. India produces 65% of
alcoholic beverages in South-East Asia. Most urban areas have witnessed
an explosion in the number of bars and nightclubs that have opened in
recent years for the middle and upper class groups. Drinking has also
given rise to many social problems on the side lines, the foremost being domestic
violence - beating or abusing wife followed by drunk driving, etc.
With regard to ill-treatment of women in the house who are engaged in all
kinds of chores whole day- cooking, doing laundry, etc., a day's rest will give her relaxation. It is not so because of drunk husbands. Gone are those days
when wives silently suffered all the abuses, threats and physical
violence committed by their husbands at home. Driven to the edge of exasperation
and tolerance, in many households, women have mustered enough courage to
face such abusive men and their perversion by protecting themselves
not through legal action or police complaints, rather giving them
back in their own language - a sort of vigilante justice. Described
below is a weird incident in an Indian village in Bihar in which the
drunken men were thrashed by their better halves if they would get into the house fully loaded.
In May 2013, 35 year old Baleshwar Pasi,
a poor man and an alcoholic addict, upon entering his run-down hut in a
drunken stupor, fired a volley of abuses at his hard working wife. In
the last 15 years his wife Munni had to be patiently submissive to his
nasty behavior. Her patience wore thin as she had to take care of her
growing children. One day Pasi had a different reception at home and
it was a different one that he never expected. In a drunken state, he provoked the devil in
his otherwise quiet wife, who happened to be part of 150 strong all women vigilante group recently formed in this part of the village. Armed with sturdy
brooms and bamboo sticks, she took the avatar of fierce looking Goddess
''Badra Kali'' who won't spare evil-minded people and blasted him nonstop to her heart's content. She stopped it at last when her husband Pasi, heavily drunk and
unable to stand steady on his shaky feet, fell on his knees before his wife and begged
mercy to spare his life.
The impact on him was so nasty and bad after that he never touched the brew and whenever he went past the liquor shops, he won't even take a look at them and would recollect the lousy treatment given to him by his wife. Besides, he would see the virtual image of his wife with blood-shot eyes and broom and stick in both hands ready to thrash him in the hour and on the hour. The sight was so scary and nightmarish that it would give him the runs.
Named after the Hindu goddess "Durga Vahini" who is known to slay demons/Assuras (evils), the group symbolizes women's power and their rights in the society. This group banned consuming alcohol in the village and also the entry of anybody in a drunken state.
According to another villager one Doma Ansari, 25, ''these women mean business," because he too was a recipient of the ''broom - stick'' treatment meted out by his angered wife when he caused a ruckus in a tipsy condition in the village during the same time; he moved like a male mad elephant experiencing musth. He tasted the trash and its effect on him and he never wanted to take a glance at the liquor bottle. The men in the village had no craving for the alcoholic brew, not even its odor. No temptation; if they had some kind of itching for the brew, they knew they would be pulverized by these emboldened women.
Banauli, Rohtas district of Bihar is a small village a 150-house settlement, inhabited by very poor Dalits and some Muslims as well. The media reports point out poor women's all-out war on their drunk husbands had a domino effect on them and others in this area. This new development changes the social fabric of this place and offers the affected women to breathe and give respite from ill treatment. It will help them take their lives forward to give a decent future to their aspiring kids. The District Magistrate gives a full support to the anti-alcohol campaign by these maverick women.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/drunk-husbands-taste-women-power/story-6OYdLaQvf7oQ8hsyH8XYTM.html.
The impact on him was so nasty and bad after that he never touched the brew and whenever he went past the liquor shops, he won't even take a look at them and would recollect the lousy treatment given to him by his wife. Besides, he would see the virtual image of his wife with blood-shot eyes and broom and stick in both hands ready to thrash him in the hour and on the hour. The sight was so scary and nightmarish that it would give him the runs.
Named after the Hindu goddess "Durga Vahini" who is known to slay demons/Assuras (evils), the group symbolizes women's power and their rights in the society. This group banned consuming alcohol in the village and also the entry of anybody in a drunken state.
According to another villager one Doma Ansari, 25, ''these women mean business," because he too was a recipient of the ''broom - stick'' treatment meted out by his angered wife when he caused a ruckus in a tipsy condition in the village during the same time; he moved like a male mad elephant experiencing musth. He tasted the trash and its effect on him and he never wanted to take a glance at the liquor bottle. The men in the village had no craving for the alcoholic brew, not even its odor. No temptation; if they had some kind of itching for the brew, they knew they would be pulverized by these emboldened women.
Banauli, Rohtas district of Bihar is a small village a 150-house settlement, inhabited by very poor Dalits and some Muslims as well. The media reports point out poor women's all-out war on their drunk husbands had a domino effect on them and others in this area. This new development changes the social fabric of this place and offers the affected women to breathe and give respite from ill treatment. It will help them take their lives forward to give a decent future to their aspiring kids. The District Magistrate gives a full support to the anti-alcohol campaign by these maverick women.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/drunk-husbands-taste-women-power/story-6OYdLaQvf7oQ8hsyH8XYTM.html.