On Thursday, the Supreme Court stayed Maharashtra government's 2005 ban on dance bars. The ruling, though, said the government could regulate dance bars and performances. The SC stay comes as an elaboration of its order in 2003 which upheld the rights of women bar dancers to pursue their profession. Maharashtra was insisting on a ban saying such bars and dances violated the dignity of women. And it seems the State is not ready to give up even now. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has yesterday tweeted that the government still favoured a ban and would continue to press its case.

This is unfortunate. Several experts and activists have pointed out that dance bars offered poor girls a safer avenue to earn a livelihood. They lifted many out of sex work and similar professions where chances of exploitation and abuse were much higher. At a time when thousands of TV channels are beaming varying degrees of nudity onto our living rooms without any restrictions and the social media is abuzz with myriad forms of porn, it is hypocritical to talk about safeguarding the dignity of dance bar girls. Most dancers would perhaps have to go back to sex work.

The government should realise that bans often achieve nothing. In the 1950s when Morarji Desai was chief minister of the State of Bombay, the region introduced prohibition. The atmosphere cultivated bootleggers and a strong underground liquor mafia.

Regulation is the key. A well regulated nightclub industry can be a money spinner. For instance, in the US, bars and nightclubs are a $26-30 billion industry employing nearly 4 lakh people. In the UK, nightclubs alone reportedly employ around 80,000 people and generate more than $3 billion a year. India should let this segment of the economy shake a leg; enough of this pseudo-morality.

Senior Assistant Editor

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW