Rupa said she and her mother were dejected by the liquor-fuelled tantrums of her brother. Her younger brother. Aged 12.
Bounded together by stories of anguish and oppression, harassment and humiliation, all caused by liquor addiction of their male family members, they displayed rare determination and unity of cause.
The protesters, under the banner of Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj Chandrapur District Darumukti Abhiyan, comprised girls younger than Rupa to women in their seventies, as well as a few men. They were led by Paromita Goswami, who heads Shramik Elgar, an organization devoted to the welfare of unorganized labourers and marginalized classes.
The protesters started their long padyatra at Chimur on Sunday at 5.30am. On the same afternoon, they rested for a few hours at Bhisi village and halted at Chichala village on Sunday night. On Monday night, they stayed at Umrer and at Uti village on Tuesday night. They entered Nagpur on Wednesday and stayed near Dighori on Wednesday night. Throughout the way, women's organizations provided food to the protesters.
The agitators claimed that Chandrapur was fifth in the state in terms of number of liquor shops and consumption. Around 448 liquor shops are operating in the district and more are planned to be set up, they claimed. "This has resulted in increase in cases of domestic violence and brutal killing of innocent housewives under the influence of alcohol," they added.
Goswami, who commands immense respect among tribals and villagers, was firm: "We don't want sympathy and promises. We don't want any more laws. The government should immediately start demolishing liquor shops and cancel the licences of upcoming bars."
Goswami's determination was shared by all protesters. One of them was Shalu Mashakhetri. Holding her five-month-old son in her lap, Shalu, who is in her twenties and a sarpanch of Gangalwadi village in Brahmapuri, was ahead in the morcha. Asked why she had got her infant son Shubham along, she replied matter-of-factly, "I am protesting for my son's future. His father is an alcoholic and I can't get rid of his drinking habit. I don't want my son to follow the same path." Shalu said that in her village boys as young as 10 years old were addicted to booze. "It is only because of the rise in liquor shops and bad company," she said.
Shalu must see her dreadful future in the eyes of 70-year-old Suman Tekam. "This habit has made us even poorer. Even at this age, I have to bear the beatings of my drunken husband." Widow Sindhibai Awari had dreamt that her sons would be her pillars of support in her old age. But that wish was shattered as both turned into liquor addicts. Taking an initiative, Suman and Sindhibai talked other women of their village into joining the protest. Rupa, the 15-year-old protester, said, "My father and brother are both drunkards. I and my mother face the torment daily. Many times, both of them hit us and create nuisance."
Home minister R R Patil seemed to understand the agony of the protesters. Addressing them, he ensured that their demands would be fulfilled. "A proposal would be put up before the government towards this end," he said. Patil also took Goswami and four other women to meet chief minister Prithviraj Chavan.
He even ordered city cops to offer fruits to the weary women. But the protesters' pursuit was single-minded. When cops offered bananas to protesters after protesters, all said the same thing: "We don't want fruits. We just want prohibition."
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