Nepal & alcohol

J

Jon

Joined
Nov 8, 1998
Messages
276
Just read a short piece in the local Sunday paper (article not online) about the "agreement" the Nepalese gov't made with the Maoist insurgents regarding limiting sales of alcohol.

Seems the gov't agreed to limit alcohol sales to certain hours, the drinking age was raised to 24, stores (official??) that sell alcohol will be limited to only a few (country wide, city wide, etc.?? - article didn't specify).

I'm not sure why the Maoist insurgents would care about alcohol sales, seems more of a question for religion or temperance folks, but I'm not knowledgeable about Nepal.

Just wondering if the insurgents are now able to dictate social or gov't policy, and how much headway their making? The article (link posted here recently) about the royal family's murder didn't seem very promising on the future stability of Nepal.
 
You can watch a good amount of Nepal here:

http://www.nepalnews.com/

The new prime minister has formed an open forum for the insurgent complaints, and a cease-fire was agreed (many of the insurgents arrested have been released from jail). AFTER the cessation of hostilities, the various factions of the insurgent group were welcomed into the government, and were proceeding legally. The GALS, however, had their own agenda - they gathered about 1,000 together and torched a distillery, to "touch off" their drive for drinking legislation. Carrie Nation in a sari :eek:

The item may still be in their archives. I checked right away when saw it - it wasn't "our" distillery :p
 
Walosi, thanks for the link.

Seems like they're going after everything that's fun, I wonder if we'll see a Nepalese version of the "Roaring 20's" :). I imagine the "regular folks" are already starting "at home" - home brewing, cider making, distilling, back room gambling, etc. - or the Nepalese versions of these.
 
I'm sure Nepal is no different in that respect than a couple of places I've been in Asia. Once you're beyond the "metro" area, it is as it has been - "for 10,000 years, and down from the clouds". There are parts of Nepal where the residents, seeing their first modern distillery, would stare and ask "Do you mean you can do it that way, too?".
A shutdown of the large producerswould probably bring instant prosperity to quite a few villages "farther out".
 
In a recent phone conversation with Gelbu he mentioned the shut down on alcohol. I doubt this will effect the many village folks who have been making various types of home brew for hundreds of years -- and as mentioned, maybe it is the birth of some real hot and heavy bootlegging.

Best luck to our pals who make the khukuri rum.
 
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