Liquor Ban Bid Also Fails in Sindh Assembly

By Our Correspondent

KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly has rejected a resolution seeking a complete ban on the sale and purchase of liquor across the province. The resolution was presented by MQM lawmaker Aneel Kumar, a Hindu member of the assembly, and was opposed by Sindh Law Minister Zia Ul Hassan Lanjar, after which the house did not approve it.
Moving the resolution, Aneel Kumar argued that liquor is not only religiously prohibited for Muslims but is also restricted or banned in several countries on social and legal grounds. He maintained that the current practice of issuing liquor sale licences in the names of non-Muslims and foreigners goes against the broader principle of equality and contributes to social harm. He called on the provincial government to cancel all existing licences and impose a complete ban on liquor trade in Sindh.
Opposing the resolution, Law Minister Lanjar said the ban would cause difficulties for many people. Following the government’s opposition, the resolution was rejected with majority vote.
It is pertinent to mention here that liquor sale has long remained a sensitive and debated subject in Pakistan’s legislatures. Similar attempts have been made at the federal level in the past but did not succeed. In 2016, a Hindu Member of the National Assembly and head of the Pakistan Hindu Council, Ramesh Kumar Vankwani had made such attempt in National Assembly but had failed. In 2014, then Chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology, Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani, had also made a similar attempt along with a non-Muslim MNA, which also did not succeed.
In 2019, another attempt was made against liquor sale in the National Assembly by PTI MNA Maulana Akbar Chitrali, jointly with Christian lawmaker Shunila Ruth, but that effort too failed to secure approval.
According to past excise department submissions and court records, roughly 120 to 130 liquor sale licences have been issued in Sindh in previous years, with a significant number located in Karachi. The trade operates under regulated licensing and has periodically come under judicial and public scrutiny, with debate continuing over its legal, social and minority-rights dimensions.

Revenue from liquor-related duties and licence fees has also formed part of excise collections. Past official statements and court submissions have indicated that the liquor trade and related taxes have generated billions of rupees in revenue.