It’s the ‘Talibanisation of Pune’: Party-goers

With both the police and the revenue department tightening their noose around party-goers in the city, the young-at-heart and the hoteliers are a disgruntled lot. Many point out that the recent crackdown on parties is almost akin to “Talibanisation of Pune” and a brazen infringement on the fundamental rights of the citizens.

Ganesh Shetty, president of the Pune Hoteliers’ Association, said the recent crackdowns were quite high-handed. “In today’s world, people getting together for a few drinks with good music is being construed as a party and it is raided. This is quite uncalled for and smacks of neoptism,” he said.

Shetty said the process of applying for police licences was quite cumbersome, which entailed endless red tapism for the restaurant owners. “The laws need to be amended and made more people friendly. While the world is progressing, we seem to be going back,” he said.

Similar sentiments was expressed by homemaker and avid party-goer Aditi Vyas. “Why does the police and revenue department should have a problem when people are having a good time?” she asked. Aditi said the people had all the right to ‘let their hair down’ after a hard week.

Media professional Gaurav Singh said people should be given the freedom to socialise. “Some go to the park and some like to party. Blaming party-goers for nightlife is a stupid thing to do. Hotels and discos need to have their systems in place with stringent government intervention,” he said.

“After all, everyone wants a break after a hard time at work”, said Bhawna Mishra, who suggested that the police instead of catching up or harassing people, should check the age group of the people who are drinking. She added the police should penalise the restaurant owners in case of violation of laws and let off the patrons.