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Gurdwaras to join
hands with DAAP to end liquor menace
WSN Network
LONDON: Sikh
gurdwaras have now come forward to help curb one of the major
menaces that has been impacting the Punjabi society -- the menace of
liquor. Punjabis in Britain have been ticked off for serving too
much alcohol at their weddings - a practice that is not only
threatening lives but also putting pressure on families to dish out
the drink.
A British
charity serving a West London suburb with a large population of
Punjabis says the practice has become so widespread that many
families of brides complain that the groom's side pressures them to
serve alcohol when they don't want to.
The Southall-based
Drug and Alcohol Programme (DAAP) says it is now willing to "name
and shame" families that exert such pressure, pointing out ethnic
Indians - especially Sikhs - in Britain are particularly vulnerable
to alcoholrelated deaths.
DAAP is now
teaming up with local gurdwaras to address what it says is a growing
problem in Britain. "There is huge pressure on families to provide
alcohol at weddings the boy's side usually makes the demand. We
have a whole dossier of evidence," said DAAP's chief executive
officer Perminder Dhillon.
"This problem is
extensive now, and it is akin to demanding dowry. We end up
supporting users with alcohol-related health problems during the
bingedrinking period," she added in a warning ahead of the festive
season in Britain.
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We will not be afraid to put these examples up on our website
and condemn them. As a community, we really have to take our
collective heads out of the sand and acknowledge that there is a
problem with excessive drinking. |
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She quoted
research published in the British Medical Journal as saying men of
South Asian origin in Britain are four times more likely to die of
alcohol-related liver problems than other ethnic groups. And, 80 per
cent of those South Asians who are vulnerable to alcoholrelated
mortality are Sikhs, she said. Dhillon, an award-winning charity
worker, said it was wrong to think that Asians did not binge-drink
because of their religion or culture.
"Many parents
feel pressured to provide a huge quantity of alcohol at weddings
even if they themselves are non-drinkers.
It is seen as
cool, fashionable, a sign of being modern and certainly a yardstick
to measure the amount of wealth been lavished at the wedding," she
said.
"Our message is
simple name and shame those who do this. We will not be afraid to
put these examples up on our website and condemn them. As a
community, we really have to take our collective heads out of the
sand and acknowledge that there is a problem with excessive
drinking."
Dhillon said the
charity was not against "sensible drinking" but added that many
guests at weddings tended to mix their drinks, which meant that
"safe levels are exceeded quickly."
The DAAP and
local gurdwaras will organise a day of action in January 2010 in
Southall.
According to an
editorial published in the prestigious British Medical Journal in
October, alcohol-use among South Asians in
Britain
is "under-recognised, and alcohol related harm is disproportionately
high."
It said
alcohol-related deaths are particularly high among Irish and
Scottish, as well as Indian men. "Ethnic minorities make up almost
eight per cent of the population in the United Kingdom, yet their
contribution to the cost of alcohol related harm, estimated at 20bn
Pounds ($32bn) a year, is not widely known. This has led to public
health policies based on incorrect assumptions," the BMJ said.
16
December 2009
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