Javed Akhtar Strongly Opposes Reopening Pan & Liquor Shops, Says It'll Bring Disastrous Results

Reacting to the Government's decision of reopening paan, tobacco, and liquor shops amid the lockdown, Lyricist Javed Akhtar and actor Raveena Tandon say they're not in favor of it.

It was announced by Union Home Ministry that from 4 May, liquor shops will be allowed to open in all three zones, i.e red, orange, and green. However, Liquor stores will not be allowed in containment zones across the country.

ANI

It was also added that this order is only applicable to stand-alone shops. The liquor and paan shops inside malls or shopping complexes will not be allowed to operate. The government has categorized all 733 districts across the country in three zones ¨C red (hotspots), orange (having a limited number of Covid-19 cases), and green (no cases).

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Containment zones are those areas in red and orange zones that have been sealed due to a high number of Covid-19 infections. Only essential activities are permitted in these areas.

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Removing the ban on alcohol and paan shops was among many relaxations announced on Friday with the two-week extension of the corona-virus lock-down in the country.

Celebrities like Raveena Tandon and Javed Akhtar are detesting the decision.

Javed and Raveena

Mocking the decision, Raveena Tandon tweeted,

Yaaay for paan/gutka shops! Excellent, the spitting starts again! Wonderful!! https://t.co/KRyOv7HcKT

¡ª Raveena Tandon (@TandonRaveena) May 1, 2020

¡°Yaaay for paan/gutka shops! Excellent, the spitting starts again! Wonderful!!¡±

Javed Akhtar made a valid point on Twitter. Connecting the demand and sale of alcohol to growth in the cases of domestic violence, he added,

Opening liquor shops during the lock down will only bring disastrous results . In any case according to all the surveys nowadays domestic Violence has increased to a large extent .liquor will make these days even more dangerous of for women and children .

¡ª Javed Akhtar (@Javedakhtarjadu) May 2, 2020

¡°Opening liquor shops during the lockdown will only bring disastrous results. In any case according to all the surveys nowadays domestic Violence has increased to a large extent .liquor will make these days even more dangerous for women and children."

When a Twitter user pointed a finger at him and said, ¡®looks like Javed has quit drinking¡¯, he responded: ¡°30th July 1991 was the last day of my drinking.¡±