It is ironical to note that in a country where the
Constitution itself guarantees to every citizen, the fundamental right to
practice any profession or carry out any occupation of choice, the State
government in 2005 decided to impose a ban on dance bars, thereby rendering
several bar dancers jobless. Only recently, this ban was lifted and bar owners
and bar dancers could heave a sigh of relief.
The State government had apparently presumed that
identical dance performance in eateries, and waterholes which bore less than
three star marks was an exhibition of high immoral behavior, but not in
establishments bearing more than three stars. The Supreme Court has thankfully
ruled this assumption as totally unacceptable. The ban on dance bars had
previously, firmly confirmed the absence of absolute freedom in our democracy.
The state government of Maharashtra justified the ban by stating that dancing
by female bar dancers aroused lust amongst men who frequented these bars. The
bars then became the breeding ground for prostitution and thus the ban had to
be placed for protecting vulnerable women.
The truth of
the matter was that the government’s presumption was extremely ridiculous as
the concept of a bar would not change depending upon its star ratings.
Moreover, it would do nothing to changing bar dancing as a source of income, or
the world of bar dancers in particular. The moral police in Mumbai have gone on
similar rampages in the past, by reducing night club hours, forcing pubs to
close down early and also curbed public displays of affection significantly.
All this was done in a bid to maintain ‘law and order’ in the city.
The revocation of the ban has brought smiles to the
unknown faces of many bar owners and bar dancers. It is necessary to guarantee every individual
his /her livelihood and by lifting this irrational ban, the Supreme Court has
proved that there are other existing laws and methods that, if adequately
implemented, would protect, if not completely eradicate, the society from the
so-called dangers of immorality, vulgarity and depravity.
The Supreme Court rightly refused to acknowledge the
so obviously inherent class divide too, that this situation brought with
itself. A certain form of entertainment, in this case, watching female bar
dancers dance, would be enjoyed equally and in the same manner by people across
all economic classes. There is no superior and inferior class here but the
State government, by imposing the ban, gave rise to several protests by bar
dancers’ organizations in Azad Maidan
and elsewhere. In a free flowing democratic country like ours, such a ban on a
profession leads to a scary phenomenon of mass unemployment. More than 75, 000
women are consequently being forced into prostitution for lack of any other
option. On the other hand, bar dancing has widely been considered to be a
derogatory profession and many thus fear that lifting this ban will promote a
disregard for the social decorum that is expected to be maintained in public
places.
The judgment has, no doubt been a landmark, and
has also brought in a lot of speculation from the conservatives of our society.
Several eyebrows have risen as the question of morality has sparked off heated
debates in various quarters. A profound distinction between different
categories of dance performers and audiences has clearly been established and
it is not very likely that after the lifting of the ban, bar dancers would dare
to disclose to their families about dancing as their profession to support the
family. But owing to the judgment, as of now, the worries of these bar dancers,
many of whom are also single mothers, has been reduced considerably.
At one end, is the livelihood rights of the bar
dancers and on the absolute other is the moral pressures that operate in
multiple ways in public life. The Supreme Court will ideally have to order
tighter regulations to make the working environment safer for bar dancers so that
they get their deserved payments on time and also the respect that they have
long been demanding.
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