Opinion My neighbourhood’s right not to have a dance bar

If anything,most bar dancers dress far more modestly than Bipasha Basu or Katrina Kaif while dancing to raunchy numbers like “Beedi” or “Chikni Chameli”. Their only fault is that most bar dancers come from miserably poor families; many end up in the profession because they have been abandoned by husbands or are sole breadwinners supporting disabled or sick parents and younger siblings. By contrast,most film heroines today come from highly educated and wealthy families.

At that rally,bar dancers who spoke from the stage openly abused the police for their hypocrisy,saying: “They say we are immoral. But they have no shame in coming and raiding the bars in order to extort money from us. What does that make them?”

Many bar dancers faced destitution when bars were forcibly shut down. However,that did not mean the end of their profession. Since it became fashionable to have young women gyrate to Bollywood numbers on every conceivable occasion,from political rallies to weddings and even functions organised by the police,many found other venues to perform.

Though I wasn’t in favour of the ban,I find it hard to celebrate its revocation. It may be a victory for bar owners,but it isn’t quite one for women. The stigma attached to the profession stays,despite the fact that dancing per se is not stigmatised any more. For example,women from “respectable” families dance to the same Bollywood tunes at family weddings,birthday parties and in discotheques. And yet,many of those who wax eloquent in favour of dance bars would never let their own daughters or sisters take to this profession.

The stigma is connected to the fact that many dance bars are blackholes of economic and sexual exploitation. For example,most bar owners don’t pay salaries to the dancers. They are expected to earn from tips given by customers. Those vary from day to day and from customer to customer,putting pressure on these women to appear “pleasing” to the men who constitute their consumer base. What’s worse,bar owners reportedly take away 40-50 per cent of the money received by the dancers as tips as their share for letting them dance in their bars.

Dancing seductively before a group of drunken louts who frequent these bars is not a dignified way to earn a living. Bar dancer-turned-film screenwriter Shagufta admitted candidly on NDTV that while bar dancing saved her from the clutches of the flesh trade,it was hardly an enjoyable or dignified profession. Most women don’t dare disclose to their families that they are supporting them by dancing in bars,because it is considered to be only a shade better than prostitution.

It is known that the dance bar clientèle usually includes underworld dons and other shady characters. The Supreme Court may order tighter regulations to make the working environment safe for bar dancers,but given the high levels of criminalisation of our police force,the so-called law-and-order guardians pose a bigger threat to these women than ordinary goondas. The police routinely fleece both bar owners and dancers.

When talking of the livelihood rights of bar dancers,we cannot afford to ignore the fact that even those who may not be hostile to bar dancers per se do not want dance bars in their neighbourhoods,just as those who consume liquor don’t want a liquor shop next to their home. The reason is simple: such places invariably attract lumpen elements who pose a threat to neighbourhood safety. Self-styled liberals and feminists use the term “moral policing” as a pejorative. But a society that gives up its right to exercise moral pressure on individuals to observe social decorum is a dying society.

Even today,in close-knit villages and stable urban neighbourhoods,crime rates are low. Men dare not indulge in sexual harassment or drunken brawls in public places because they face serious social censure. Our cities have become unsafe largely because people live anonymous lives due to the breakdown of community life. Neighbourhood bonds and community controls have become lax or non-existent. As a result,young people are growing up rudderless and get sucked into anti-social activities.

Today,we cannot afford to brush away with disdain the concerns of those who oppose the existence of dance bars in their neighbourhoods. Thus,the right to livelihood of bar dancers is pitched against the citizens’ right to decide what sorts of activities they wish to keep out of their neighbourhoods. For example,thanks to the work of Shetkari Sangathana in Maharashtra,the law mandates that the government will have to close liquor shops in every village or municipality where the majority of women vote against the presence of an “adda”,because it inevitably becomes a magnet for anti-social elements. However,feminists have celebrated militant anti-liquor movements in rural India,including forcible closure of liquor shops,only when they were led by leftist organisations.

Are we going to deny neighbourhoods the same right with regard to dance bars,simply because the demand for their closure doesn’t come from the communist parties?

The writer is professor,Centre for the Study of Developing Societies,Delhi,and founder editor,‘Manushi’