Srinagar, May 12 -- A war of words erupted in Jammu and Kashmir over chief minister (CM) Omar Abdullah's remarks saying that "people consume alcohol by their own will and government was not forcing anyone to visit liquor shops." Criticising Omar, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Iltija Mufti accused the government of taking U-turns on every issue and sought a ban on alcohol in the UT. "His statement on alcohol is completely illogical. He said we are not telling anybody to consume alcohol. Please tell me won't the drug peddlers use your logic when Nasha Mukt abhiyaan is going on in J&K," she said. Defending his remark, Omar said that no government has banned alcohol shops in the region till date. Omar said t his government was not promoting alcohol but only allowing it for those whose ideology doesn't stop them from its consumption. The CM had made the remarks in Ganderbal on Sunday while responding to some queries. Mufti said that no religion promotes any narcotics or alcohol- whether Islam, Sikhism or Hinduism. "In dry states like Gujarat and Bihar, where the majority is Hindus, if governments there can ban alcohol why won't you ban it here. It is unfortunate that you don't respect the culture and sensibility of the majority Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir even though you are the chief minister of a Muslim-majority region," shesaid. Not only from the opposition, the statement invited criticism from senior National Conference (NC) leader Aga Ruhullah Mehdi. Mehdi, who is also Srinagar member of Parliament and a strong critic of the chief minister, said that he wants the shops closed. "Among the lakhs of people, some youth get involved in alcohol consumption by looking at others, we want that routeto be closed as well. There should be no shop whether anybody wishes to have alcohol or not," he said at a public function. Addressing mediapersons in Srinagar, Omar said: "These shops are for those people whose religion allows them to have alcohol. No government so far has banned these shops in J&K." "The opposition is using my statement to hide their own mistakes. If what I said was wrong then what did they do in their own government? Because what I said in Ganderbal, the same thing was said on record by People's Democratic Party (PDP)'s then finance minister in the assembly," he said. In 2016, the then finance minister of PDP government Haseeb Drabu had said in the assembly that alcohol will not be banned in Jammu and Kashmir as it was a matter of freedom and choice. Omar said that his government did a few things to keep alcohol consumption under check. "One we did not open any new shops and secondly we tried not to allow any shop at any such place where ouryouth take the wrong path," he said. Meanwhile, Iltija, defended her party not banning alcohol when they were in power. "No non-NC government here, even if that was of PDP, did get the sweeping mandate which your government received in 2024. Omar has 50 MLAs and he can bring an order or a bill in the assembly to ban alcohol," the PDP leader further said....