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 Excise commissioner Aditya Kumar has reportedly told The Telegraph India that all kinds of liquor are banned under prohibition and use of sacramental wine was not in conformity in it as there were chances of its misuse so the licence given to the winery for its production has been cancelled.
Wine for the communion service was being procured from a small winery run at the Xavier's Teachers' Training Institute (XTTI) campus at Digha in Patna, which has been producing and bottling it since the 1960s. At present, there are around 150 churches in the State procuring the wine also known as Sacramental wine, Communion wine, Altar wine or Mass wine. It has been a ritual with Christians to have Bread and wine which was supposedly taken at The Last Supper since the beginning of the religion and has been an integral part of prayer services across the world. Bread symbolises the body of Jesus and wine His blood. At the prayer service in a church, the priest prays for consecration of bread and wine which is then distributed as Holy Communion to the devotees.
Aditya justifying the decision by saying, ‘As far as rituals are concerned, different religions, including Hinduism have them, but have stopped in the wake of prohibition. It will not be correct to be involved in this conflict. Sacramental wine licence was in conflict with total prohibition." Earlier, the state government had exempted the churches from liquor ban on religious grounds, and allowed them to use wine during their daily prayer services, including the special Masson Sundays.
The winery at XTTI was permitted to produce 2,000 litres of wine every year, but was producing around 1,000 litres per year. It was supplied to authorised personnel from the church, who used them for prayer services using negligible quantity ranging from 5ml to 15ml for communion, according to the report.
The Christian community is understandably shock over the cancellation of licence to the winery and is worried about how the prayer services would be conducted now. They might represent their case to the state authorities and appeal to them that use of sacramental wine is an integral part of our religious fabric, and it should be allowed in Bihar, just like it is done universally. They also might present their case to the higher church bodies at the national level, and let them decide the future course of action, including approaching the judiciary.
Reportedly, the use of sacramental wine was exempted even during the previous prohibition imposed in the state from 1977 to 1980. |