Prostitution, it is said, is as old as the hills. If the Maharashtra government has ordered closure of ‘‘ladies bars’’—liquor bars where guests are served and entertained by women—because it wants to protect the morals of the populace, particularly the youth, it will not succeed. Young men, with money to spare, probably too easily earned will find carnal pleasure through channels more dangerous and wicked than dance bars. Girls without hope will gravitate into the hands of pimps and brothel owners, who often set shop in residential buildings. Social laws have not succeeded in curbing vice. On the contrary, they have led to runaway corruption. The prohibition, gambling and vice laws are goldmines for law enforcers. The unholy politician-police-criminal nexus began and is sustained on the back of these social laws. The politicians have appropriated the right of making appointments and transfers of government servants. They misuse this power to exploit these opportunities offered by implementation (or is it non-implementation) of these social laws. If officers cooperate in their grand design then they get such assignments where they and their political masters benefit. It is only the populace that suffers because of the general climate of criminality that thrives. Dance bars are most certainly pick-up joints. They are patronised by gangsters and other sleazy elements. But other comparatively innocent people do frequent such bars to let down their hair down and diminish tensions. Denial of this outlet for their frustrations may not be a good thing, particularly for such persons. Can the state save the skins, and money—hard-earned or otherwise—of such people? Doubtless, they will find more dangerous avenues to let off steam. There is no getting away from that necessity in a city where life is usually lived in the fast lane. R R Patil, the Home Minister, being a sensitive and honest individual, must have been more disturbed about the numerous pressures he is subject to, particularly from his own partymen to post officers of their choice to police stations where such dance bars abound. They are a source of much illegal income for corrupt politicians and officialdom. I suspect that this is the real reason for Patil’s recent clampdown on bars. Bars are supposed to close at a specified hour. Money is exchanged to allow them to break such rules. Many bars have private rooms atop the ground floor restaurant. The police close their eyes to such goings-on. The drunken brawls should lead to closure of bars as penalty but instead money is exchanged for police protection. There is no doubt that there is much scope for better supervision of these bars. This is possible if good and clean officers are appointed to higher police authority. But to close the bars altogether is not really the answer to the problem. No bars should be permitted in purely residential localities. The peace of the neighbourhood should be of utmost concern to those who govern. Bars should be confined to special entertainment or commercial areas where people can gather after dusk when offices are safely shut. But the government should not be in the job of policing the morals of citizens. This should be left to religious teachers and community elders. The state’s task is to regulate and ensure that people who do not want to be disturbed by such adult entertainment are isolated in time and space from such joints. Morality or decency are not commodities that the state can thrust down people’s throats. In any case, that is not the job for the government to perform. Regulation, yes. That is the government’s duty and prerogative. —(Rebeiro is a former Mumbai police commissioner)
