RR Patil's wife blames government for end of ban on dance bars

As the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the right of women bar dancers to pursue their profession overturning the ban on dance bars across the state and directing the State government to issue licences to bar owners former deputy chief minister RR Patilrsquos widow Suman Patil and daughter Smita watched the news on television disappointedAlso read Supreme Court allows dance bars to reopen in MaharashtraSuman and RR Patil at their Mumbai residence in 2004 a year before the state government imposed the ban for the first time File picldquoIt was shocking news The verdict wouldnrsquot have made him RR Patil happyrdquo said Suman 47 over the phone from Ajani in Sangli district She now holds her late husbandrsquos Assembly seat in TasgoanKavthemahankal Following the interim order from the apex court that mandated regulation of dance bars instead of a ban chief minister Devendra Fadnavis stressed that his government favours the latterAccording to Patilrsquos wife Suman and daughter Smita dance bars are disrespectful to womenHowever Suman put the blame squarely on the ruling BJPSena government about to complete one year in power arguing that it should have done more to ensure the ban stayed ldquoThe ban was overturned after a change in government This was not expected of them They have backstabbed us Is this what achche din meansrdquo she said adding that although the controversial 2005 ban was a decision of the then ruling NCPCongress alliance opposition parties including the BJP had agreed to it on principleAlso read Mumbai dance bars open Woman crusader sceptical about governmentThe ban on dance bars was bitterly protested by an estimated 75000 women who were put out of jobs after close to 1500 bars shuttered across the state File picldquoIt wasnrsquot on a whim that my husband had taken the decision to ban there was a study conducted that revealed that bars encouraged antisocial elements Even the Opposition had supported his decisionrdquo she saidThe state government first banned dance bars in 2005 with Patil who handled the Home portfolio at the forefront of the decision He got flak for linking dance bars to rising crime and blaming dancers for broken homes equating them with prostitutes The move was bitterly contested by an estimated 75000 women who were put out of jobs after close to 1500 bars shuttered across the stateThe leader wasnrsquot in the habit of discussing policy decisions at home but Suman said he had discussed this radical decision with her ldquoSince he handled the Home portfolio often hersquod have people complain to him about their young sons were squandering money on dancers In one sad incident he told me a young man killed his mother because she refused to give him money to spend at dance barsrdquoBy questioning the ruling governmentrsquos commitment to continue to support the ban she was invariably referring to the NCPrsquos resolve to see it stay with Patil bulldozing through legislation to keep it thus In 2013 the Supreme Court had upheld a Bombay High Court judgment striking down the 2005 order passed by the government to ban dance in bars and restaurants that enjoyed less than threestar statusThe state had passed the order by amending Section 33A of the Bombay Police Act 1951 whereby dance was permitted in topclass hotels and prohibited in others The Bench had said ldquoWe see no rationale which would justify the conclusion that a dance that leads to depravity in one place would get converted to an acceptable performance by a mere change of venuerdquoPatil in June 2014 addressed the SCrsquos observation surrounding discriminating against classes of venues by getting the state legislature to amend the law so that dance performances would be banned across every class of bar and restaurant in MaharashtraBut in September the same year the Supreme Court agreed to hear a challenge by the Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association Ahar to the renewed ban Dance bars had not resumed operations despite the 2013 SC order because the state was refusing to renew dance bar licences Suman said she hoped the government would make amends by filing a review petition ldquoIf that happens it will be a tribute to my late husbandrdquoSumanrsquos daughter Smita a student of law and leader of NCPrsquos youth wing said the ban was a move towards social transformation rather than a stunt ldquoBusinessmen from as far as Gujarat would come to complain to my father about their sons languishing at Maharashtrarsquos dance bars He was concerned about our generationrdquoThreats allegationsPatilrsquos ban saw the Dance Bar Owners Association threaten to make it difficult for wives of ministers to roam freely Although seen as Mr Clean Patil was accused of seeking bribes when he refused to withdraw the banAlso read Maharashtra govt in favour of ban on dance bars says Maha CM Devendra FadnavisThe allegations were taken up in the Assembly as a breach of privilege and the associationrsquos president Manjit Singh Sethi was sentenced to three months imprisonmentldquoEven though there was strong opposition from stakeholders my father received tremendous support from those suffering the ill effects of dance bars I wish the BJP government had worked systematically to make the ban permanentrdquo Smita said