On Gandhi Jayanti, Mahatma Gandhi received bottles of toddy as an offering.
The incident occurred in Chennai where the Tamil Nadu Toddy Movement offered the bottles of toddy.
Some 30 members of the association had gathered near Gandhi stature located along the Kamarajar Salai near Marina and placed their toddy offering.
The state had banned tapping toddy and the association hopes that the ban will be lifted by the government.
The police had arrested the members.
According to S. Nallasamy, the convener Tamil Nadu Toddy Movement said that they have sought the police’s permission but were taken as preventive detention and had their phones snatched & photos deleted. The arrested members were taken to a community hall located in Mylapore and released later in the evening.
The late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa had assured that the ban on toddy tapping will be lifted during the 2011 Assembly election but failed to keep the promise.
The following governments too did not lift the ban
Nallasamy alleged that while all other states in the country allow the toddy tapping, he is at a loss to understand that why the Tamil Nadu denies having given permission to tap toddy.
Main political parties run ‘distillery’ units and supply liquor bottles to the government, which gets profound revenue. “Every corner has a Tasmac and it appears that every ruling party cannot run without revenue from Tasmac outlets and they fear that allowing of tapping toddy would steadily bring down the revenue,” he noted.
“We will continue our protests until the government accepts toddy-tapping,” he concluded.
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