Andhra Congress's solution to rape: Ban women from pubs after 10 pm

Taking a leaf out of the saffron wing's book, the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh has banned women from clubs, pubs and bars after 10 at night.

It has also banned girls under 21 from visiting these places at any hour, despite the legal age for drinking in the country being 18.

The government's decision has prompted charges of discrimination from women organisations.

A notification issued to clubs, pubs and bars on Friday directed the establishments to  ask women customers to leave after 10 pm or face cancellation of their liquor licences.

Till now, both men and women could be served drinks in the state till 11 pm.

The notification, signed by the excise commissioner, has also asked pubs, bars and clubs to stop serving “free drinks” to women at any time of day.

The Telegraph quoted state police chief Dinesh Reddy as saying that the step was taken to prevent crimes against women such as snatchings, molestation and even rapes.

Justifying the ban, a senior police officer said that the move was prompted by several incidents of drunken women quarrelling with auto drivers outside bars and clubs at night.

But he failed to explain why the ban targeted only women although men got involved in drunken brawls as well.

However, one incident involving a group of young women had received a lot of publicity last month. Some female students of a law institute had fought with auto drivers outside a Jubilee Hills pub and later attacked a TV crew that was filming them.

The government's decision is likely to pose a problem for women as many social events are held in hotels and clubs nowadays. And no matter what the reason is, the Congress government is definitely not going to earn brownie points for the move.

What we wonder is whether it was a smart move to tick off a considerable chunk of the electorate just before the assembly elections.

Andhra Pradesh is the largest consumer of beer and cheap liquor in the country and drinking among women is common during festivals and social events in the state.

Other incidents of moral policing

Similar incidents of moral policing were witnessed in Karnataka when the Sri Ram Sena attacked girls in a pub in Mangalore.

On January 24, 2009, a group of 40 activists of the Sri Rama Sena had  barged into the pub "Amnesia — The Lounge" and beat up a group of young women and men, claiming the women were violating traditional Indian values. Two of the women were hospitalised.

Founder of Sri Rama Sena, Pramod Muthalik had intially said, "Whoever has done this has done a good job. Girls going to pubs is not acceptable. So, whatever the Sena members did was right. You are highlighting this small incident to malign the BJP government in the state."

However, following public pressure and alienation by the BJP, Muthalik later apologised for the attack saying, the way the right-wing group acted "was wrong" but insisted it was done to "save our mothers and daughters".

He was later arrested under IPC section 153 by the Karnataka Police.

Dance bars in Maharashtra have also been a victim of the moral police. In early 2005, as the local protests against the dance bars increased, dance bars in Mumbai were banned.

Following this, dance bars in the rest of Maharashtra were also banned on March 30 after complaints from local state assembly members.

In April 2005, the state cabinet unanimously supported the home department's proposal to revoke the licences of all dance bars.

The ban became legalised on July 22, 2005, when "Police (Amendment) Bill 2005" was adopted by the Maharashtra State Assembly banning dance bars across the state.

In April 2006, the Bombay High Court, lifted a ban on dance bars, imposed by the state government, saying that the ban was discriminatory and violated the right to equality.

On September 9, 2011, the Supreme Court had suggested the Maharashtra government to tweak the provisions of the Bombay Police Act to ban only "obscene and objectionable" form of dance in bars, hotels and restaurants.