Lakshadweep liquor draft triggers mass protests

In a major blow to the administration’s new tourism push, the Agatti Island Mahallu Jama-ath Committee has formally joined the territory-wide agitation against the proposed Lakshadweep Excise Regulation 2026. The influential committee has submitted a memorandum to the Administrator demanding an immediate and complete withdrawal of the draft policy, which seeks to permit liquor sales in the archipelago.

As the gateway island hosting Lakshadweep’s primary airport, Agatti’s leadership has warned that they are on the frontline of the impending policy shift, which they claim has triggered widespread resentment across the peace-loving Union Territory.

For nearly five decades, Lakshadweep has maintained a strict, community-backed liquor prohibition policy. Condemning the administrative move to dilute existing laws under the guise of boosting tourism, the Agatti Mahallu Committee asserted that the new regulation would irreparably damage the peace, safety, and spiritual heritage nurtured by generations of islanders.

The committee has demanded that the administration freeze the draft policy immediately and initiate a transparent review involving local stakeholders. They maintain that nothing short of a total withdrawal of the draft will suffice to protect the island’s social fabric.

“If liquor is deemed necessary for tourism development, then what Lakshadweep needs is its tender coconut. Liquor will destroy the peace of the islands. Where there is no peace, tourism cannot happen,” says KC Abdul Khader Saquafi, Chairman, Agatti Mahallu Jama-ath Committee.