A Catholic group in India campaigning against alcoholism in southern Tamil Nadu has demanded the government declare Good Friday a “dry day”, arguing that excluding it from the state’s dry day list violates secular principles. Source: UCA News.
The group – Amalorpava Maathaa Mathuvilaku Saba, or the Sodality of Mary Immaculate Against Alcoholism – sent the state government a legal notice on January 27 as a first step before filing a lawsuit against it.
The notice challenged the state’s current policy on dry days, arguing that the list includes all major festival days of other religions but excludes Good Friday, “the most sacred day” in the Christian calendar.
The exclusion violates the constitutional principles of secularism and equality, it is argued, and the government is urged to declare Good Friday a dry day.
The association, based in Tuticorin Diocese, was founded in 1912 in the coastal village of Uvari, and has worked to combat alcoholism and reduce alcohol-related crime and social issues in villages.
Fr Jeyanthan De Grace, who directs the organisation, said the legal notice highlighted the global religious significance of Good Friday.
“Good Friday is not just important in India but across the world. It is the most sacred day in the Christian liturgical calendar, commemorating the Passion, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ,” Fr De Grace said.
He added that the group has been urging the state government for the past five years to declare Good Friday a dry day, but without success.
He said Christians have made the same demand repeatedly over the past several years “through various channels, but there has been no response”.
“We hope this time our plea will be heard, especially as the state is heading toward assembly elections later this year.”
The government has declared major national holidays, Hindu, Muslim, Jain feast days, and other religious festivals as dry days.
The notice cited Kerala and Delhi states as examples, where Good Friday is observed as a dry day.
It also cited two Supreme Court judgments to assert that the constitutional principle of secularism requires equal treatment of all religions, without preference or discrimination.
If the state government fails to respond within two months, the group will seek the court’s intervention.
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Southern Indian group demands Good Friday be declared a dry day (UCA News)
