Governor146;s sense

There was always more than a touch of comic theatre to the Maharashtra government8217;s quixotic tilting at bars and bar girls. The high octane energy that its deputy chief minister invested in protecting the morals of the state8217;s citizens against the wiles of dancing houris in a summer when water was scarce, power went on the blink, citizens rioted and farmers continued to commit suicide, may in time inspire another Ghashiram Kotwal, who knows.

The point, however, is that Maharashtra Governor S.M. Krishna spoke sense when he observed that such essentially non-essential issues really don8217;t need to be pushed through the ordinance route, especially when the assembly is scheduled to meet in a few days8217; time and can debate the issue more substantively before taking a considered decision on it. Requirements of his office kept Krishna from making known his personal views on the matter. However this newspaper, having no such constraints, would like to reiterate what it has stated several times during this long, hot summer: that the state government has no business to be in the business of either supervising individual behaviour, setting standards of morality, or controlling a city8217;s culture and that bans are in any case self-defeating since they only drive such activity underground.

We hope therefore that the Maharashtra government, and its deputy chief minister in particular, will not stand on false pride and instead quietly drop this misguided campaign. Let the issue sink like a stone in the monsoon-swollen Arabian Sea. The governor8217;s rebuff should be seen, not as a source of acrimony and politicking, but as an opportunity to move on to other issues 8212; and Maharashtra is not lacking in them quite clearly. This dance must end.