The Supreme Court has ruled on the basis of the absolute need for an equitable application of law but there is no reason to believe that dance bars will be back in Maharashtra anytime soon. The chief minister says state policy is against the reopening of these dance bars, which tend to put up women as sex objects. There is little to fault in either party holding firm to its principles. Let us just say that the balance of convenience in this matter of public interest would be for the status quo to be informally in place and the dance bars to remain shut unless they are prepared to offer clean entertainment rather than glorification of a woman’s body as an enticement for ramping up liquor sales.
The last word has not yet been spoken on the subject as the top court has merely stayed the law while advising that dance performances should not be explicit or obscene. Of course, such descriptions are subjective, particularly in a state where the police are notorious for moral policing. The fact is that Maharashtra’s dance bars had a curious history of being bolstered by the crime mafias of the 1980s when they expanded their businesses to cover everything, from dance bars to cricket betting.
The larger question is whether we need these problems of excess in the name of enjoyment of freedoms. Enforcement of laws governing such activities means primarily enriching notoriously corrupt police forces. Although a ban is not always the answer, to tread softly in this area where a ban may help uphold women’s dignity would be the wiser course.
