Dummy politics

Politicians and police in the city patrol the bounds of decency,one they consider permanently fragile. Last year,the avenger-cop ACP Vasant Dhoble went on a hockey stick-wielding spree across Mumbais nightclubs and shops,waging war on gambling and prostitution. But the threat could come from anywhere,at any time. In January this year,a Mumbai Police advisory warned of couples stealing away to deserted beaches at low tide and indulging in indecent behaviour. Archaic clauses of the Bombay Police Act,1951,have been summoned to support such monitoring. Successive state governments in Maharashtra have shared this keen sense of propriety. In 2005,the Congress government banned dance bars in the city,on the grounds that dancing was derogatory to the dignity of women and led to their exploitation. In 2008,IPL watchers were presented with conservatively dressed cheerleaders,a compromise devised by the government after the Shiv Sena demanded that US-style cheerleaders be banned.

This conservative crackdown isnt limited to the Shiv Sena and MNS across the political spectrum,parties have competed to be part of Mumbais war on vice. While they speak of the safety and dignity of women,certain notions of social and cultural purity are clearly at stake. The city that was once the heart of Indias modernity is now a frumpy version of its former self,one that gets hot and bothered at the sight of a mere mannequin.

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