Awesome dancing by Miss Crazy in Goa Bagha beach

Acts that are termed as immoral are those that adversely affect the quality of life and social standards of a community and hence ultimately even the economy and security of a country.

It is a hard fact that the forced prostitution, the illegal extra marital sexual relations and the like activities not only affect the participants but also adversely affect other members of the society. And ofcourse the social moral values and ethical sensitivity of the members of the society too fall. More dangers emerge when the youth gets involved in such affairs and the new generation cares more for material lust than social lust. The hazards to health and adverse economic affects on the education & nutrition levels of the other family members of those involved result damage to the overall growth and economy of any country . The security and economic growth of any society is badly affected under such conditions. It is here where comes the need to worry seriously.

Recently Maharashtra Government banned the dance bars. The logic given was that under the guise of Dance bars the trade of prostitution too is conducted by some. A PIL was file in Supreme Court by Forum for Justice and Peace which contended that the Government’s decision was illative of fundamental rights of bar girls. The court directed the petitioners to approach Bombay High Court under Article 226 for appropriate action . In the meantime the Maharashtra government passed a Bill in the Assembly on 21-07-2005 banning the dance Bar Trade. The bill had been returned by Governor to Government. As per some estimates there are about 309 dance bars affected by the Bill .Over 10000 Dance Bar girls and 15000 to 20000 associated workers are said to be affected as regards earning the livelihood. Dance Bars and those working there have been indirectly accused of promoting prostitution .

The Maharashtra Chief Minister has termed the action taken to be for betterment of the society and also for saving the young generation .. But there are many other trades allowed by the government that could cause and are surely causing some social and moral damages to the society. Hence it is surely unjust to so brutally crush many needy and professional artists in this trade of entertainment.

Though male prostitution too has been reported but the prostitution that has concerned society all these years is one that has involved the fair sex. And hence I shall be focusing on that side only.

The call girl rackets in the country are not unknown. The Disco and Bear/ liquor Bars are not unknown. How much damage these bars are doing to the youth and the families of individuals can not be simply over looked. The Health Centers/ Health Clubs run by individuals and attached with hotels of star rankings too have enough of scope for those who want to conduct flesh trade or sophisticated prostitution.

The type and style in which the Big Screen movies are made these days should have made the Maharashtra Chief Minister to even ban the Bollywood Cinema or order his own Censor Board. The display of the sex appeal, nearly compromising scenes and almost missing clothes on those from fair sex taking the lead role in movie and those in group roles too can promote flesh trade and may be promoting. The electronic media advertisements are these days so open that it could be alleged that some models could use the opportunity for their person exposure and marketing of their fellowship.

May be the Maharshtra Chief Minister had not seen the modern video albums otherwise he would have been so much frustrated with the style of these albums that he would have banned such albums prior to banning the dance Bar trade. The Video Albums and the re mixes being made are so uninterruptedly played by the Video Cable networks that it confirms that these have become very popular among the youth. Those who have some memories of cultural values and moral standards observed in the past by Indian families have to either leave the Television room when video albums are tuned or have to look for corners.. The openness is so advanced that elders will have to wait endlessly till they will get a movie that could be called a family drama.

Ofcourse the media is full of news and whispers that these days for better holidaying , modern amenities and exhibitionism the girls from even rich families & those studying in colleges are getting fascinated by the call girl culture or the friendship club culture. In the name of modern culture some parents intentionally close their eyes.

It was in January 2005 Mumbai High Court had held that cabaret dance involving indecent and obscene Act in a hotel is not an offence under the existing law if it does not annoy any body. A Division bench comprising Justice Ranjana Desai and P. V. Kakade said” Cabret dance where indecent and obscene act per se is involved, would not attract the provisions of section 294 of the IPC ( obscene act in public place to the annoyance of others is punishable), without fulfillment of one of its essential ingredients- evidence pertaining to ‘annoyance to others.’ While delivering the judgment in Narendra H Khurana and others vs The Mumbai Commissioner of Police, the Judges said’ “ there was no annoyance caused to others as the audience had visited the hotel paying fees with a view to watching the nude dance which is one of the main ingredients of the offence.”No witness had lodged a complaint while watching the cabret performance at Blue Nile restaurant at Colaba from where the cabaret dancer and its owner Khurana were nabbed by the Mumbai police during a raid, said the order pronounced recently. It was further observed that ‘ “ in the absence of a special law where cabaret shows are held on the floors of a hotel in which adults attend on payment , prosecution can not contend that such cabaret shows come within purview of section 294 of the IPC. Hence why accuse Dance bar trade as well. There are many things those could be made reference here.

Any how the short and open message is that the parents have to understand their responsibility and atleast save the coming generations from falling prey to material and immoral lusts. Otherwise there are many who would term any law made by government to safeguard moral values of society as undue imposition of a code to control the likings and dislikings of an individual

Theft and other criminal activities are prohibited both socially and under law. Still some take to these acts due to unfair circumstances before them, some under pressure of other strong elements . And ofcourse there are some who adopt such practices as a regular trade and this class can be checked only by a social value treatment to them at the level of their elders and friends.

Hence for those who want to promote the sex/ prostitution trade there are many other means and methods in the behavioral practices of todays’s society other than the trade of Dance Bars. Those who would like to sell their fair sex fellowship could join as waiters in restaurants as well as the hospitality sections of five star hotels and restaurants. Hence the action of Maharashtra governments banning Dance Bar trade has no justification and the justifying reasons are still not known. Rather those promoting immoral trade should have been booked instead of doubting the integrity of all dance bar girls.

Laws have been made over the years to book the criminal. But the Crime is still committed. Needs are arising every day to make news laws. The criminal is saved under the provisions of same law that has otherwise been made to punish the criminal. True some justice is still secured for the victims.

But the laws made to secure and protect the social values and behaviour of society need more of the support of the members of the society for the effectiveness of such laws. More particularly when it is a hard fact that moral values change from society to society. Drinking liquor / wine could be immoral in a society where as it may not be immoral in another society. Similarly cutting the hairs of even male could be immoral in one society where as trimming the hairs of even the woman in another society is a normal practice. Hence the social laws could better be promoted for implementation by the members / elders of a society than it could be by the government through its law and order machinery.

Prostitution, flesh trade and socially illegal sexual relations have remained the subjects of discussion over ages. The rich as well as the poor have remained involved and affected by such like issues. Some where the rich has been using the company of the opposite sex just for making merry & fun and at occasions it has been found proving a curse for the married life of many.

In view of the natural behavioral difference being there between the man and women as gifted by nature, women has in general been exploited for her material needs by the rich and resourceful. And ofcourse some women did adopt prostitution for earning livelihood or were forced by circumstances to fall in the trap. But it is also a hard fact THAT SOME from the fair sex have been finding it easier means for effluent living though they had other means too available to make their living.

The Voluntary Social Organisations along with the parents have a role to play for constructing a morally strong society. Laws made by a State can not perform social reconstruction in a system where parliamentary democracy is their. Governments that can not dare losing revenue in case the alcohol trade is prohibited, can never succeed in checking practices like prostitution by only making laws.

2009 video about the news

On July 22, 2005 a bill was adopted by the Maharashtra State Assembly banning dance bars across the state. Starting August 15, 2005, the ban was implemented across Maharashtra.
Bar girls were forced to turn to the Gulf, other states, waiting tables, dancing at mujras, or, in many cases, outright prostitution in order to survive. Some have even committed suicide in despair, as rehabilitation by the state has not been forthcoming. The dance bars themselves had to attempt to make ends meet by hosting live singing troupes or live bands.

However, on April 12, 2006, a Maharashtra state high court ruled the ban unconstitutional and gave the state eight weeks to file its case with the Supreme Court.

—-Analysis of Vimla Patil in tribuneindia.com follows ——

The proposal to ban dance bars in Maharashtra has triggered widespread opposition, and not only from the few lakhs who stand to lose their jobs. Many prominent public figures, including lawyers and activists, have taken up cudgels for the bar girl. These ‘liberals,’ as they have dubbed, insist that work is a fundamental right of those facing the axe. But Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister of Maharashtra R.R. Patil, the man behind the ban decision, argues that dance bars are dens of crime and anti-national activities and have to be controlled.

“We don’t wish to be the ‘moral police’ as the media describes us but no one can dispute the government’s responsibility to maintain law and order,” he says.

But last week’s developments have dealt a blow or two to the moral policing business. A Bombay High Court squashed an “obscenity case” against a Nagpur dance bar. It ruled that the obscenity at the dance bar “didn’t cause any annoyance to anyone. And then Congress president Sonia Gandhi, giving a patient hearing to a group of bar girls from Mumbai, promised to look into the matter. Another setback to the proposal came with the NHRC seeking comments of the Maharashtra Government on its reported decision, and star MPs Sunil Dutt and Govinda vociferously protesting against the proposed clampdown.

What is the truth behind the issue? Who are the affected people? Where do ‘bar girls’ come from? What is the economics of dance bars? What are the existing laws? Let’s find out.

With so much public opposition to the banning of dance bars — first in various parts of Maharashtra and then in its capital Mumbai — the Maharashtra Government is changing its stand almost every day.

The ban will affect only ‘dance bars’ and not touch pubs, discos and performances at star hotels, says R. R. Patil. The government maintains that only those liquor dens, where women are exploited, where crime is spawned and where criminals act as bouncers, will be affected. “These are seedy joints. They threaten the peace and security of the local communities. We have to close them down.” The minister also says that strict action would be taken against the owners of dance bars where Bangladeshi and other foreign girls are employed illegally.

It is also clear from the statements of various leaders of the Congress and the National Congress Party, which jointly rule Maharashtra, that both parties stand united on this issue. “Though our own MPs like Govinda, Rohit Patil and Sunil Dutt have condemned the proposed law, those are their personal views. The Congress and NCP are united in this decision,” says Prabha Rao, Head of the Congress in Maharashtra.

Gurunath Kulkarni, the chief of the NCP, too, says that this is a joint decision of both ruling parties in the state.

At present, bars in Mumbai and Maharashtra are licensed to sell liquor and to employ dance girls whose movements are normally restricted to the stage area. Patrons are not allowed to dance with them or to touch them. Any activity tantamount to prostitution is prohibited. The bar owners have to pay a large monthly tax amount to obtain such a licence. The dancers are not just from Maharashtra but come from all over India as well as from Nepal, Bangladesh and many East European countries. The rush of thousands of girls to dance bars in Mumbai is due to the huge money they can earn. The earnings are estimated at over Rs 1 lakh a month at hi-end city bars. Reports say that garlands and umbrellas of currency notes are made by drunken patrons and offered to their favourite bar dancers. The minimum income a bar girl makes is about Rs 25,000 per month.

Most bar owners offer security to the girls and provide safe transport to return home after work, which ends at 1 or 2 am. Many bar dancers are married and have children. The clients come from all strata of society. Of late, there have been more college students, young corporate adventurers and even schoolboys who bribe and get in whenever they can.

As Madhur Bhandarkar’s award-winning film Chandni Bar showed, bar dancers are often brought to the city by relatives who exploit their youth to make money. Some are sexually abused by men. The condition of such girls is often pitiable. Many are the sole breadwinners of their families if the husbands are alcoholics or absconders. There are also girls who voluntarily work in dance bars for money. It is possible that bars could be meetings places of crime lords, corrupt officials and exploiters of women.

Those speaking for this industry say that there are 75,000 dance bar girls, whose jobs are under threat. This will cause a major employment problem for this large section of people whose families depend on the incomes of the girls for their livelihood. The government, however, says that the number is highly exaggerated and actually there are only 11,000 women employed in bars.

“We have asked the bar owners to provide us with authentic lists of their employees,” says R. R. Patil, “It is possible that they are not giving us the complete lists. But our investigations tell us that these bars are the addas of crime and exploitation of women. They are meeting places for anti-social elements. Dance bar owners have themselves complained that they are meeting places for corrupt bureaucrats and criminals. We have reliable information about all the activities of the dance bars. Therefore, it is our duty to control their operations through legal measures.”

However, the government is also aware that the law may not stand the test of democratic rights in the courts. To clarify the government’s position before the court, the state’s Advocate-General and senior police authorities are busy meeting with the government officials concerned to suggest a format for the law that can stand in a court and be really effective.

It has also been suggested by this three-pronged group that a revision of the police laws in the state can achieve a ban on bars that support crime and anti-national activities.

Whether the conclusions drawn by the officials will be acceptable to the courts is yet to be seen. At the time of writing this, a two-week reprieve was announced by the government so that every aspect of the proposed law could be honed before it is announced. With this reprieve, the dharna of the bar dancers and the agitation of bar owners was retracted and bars and dancers were back in business.

“It is typical of the government to first announce the law and then to set up a meeting of solicitors and officials to draft it,” says Pramod Navalkar, who too was accused of being the ‘moral policing chief’ when he was Minister for Culture in the Shiv Sena-BJP government that ruled Maharashtra before the present combine, “This is akin to announcing the wedding of a daughter and then checking out the credentials of the bridegroom. It is important for the Government to research the history of the bar culture in Maharashtra before taking any decision. This culture is not new. Mujra dances and mehfils have been happening in Mumbai for ages. The most respectable families invited such dancers to perform in their weddings, parties and get-togethers. Rajas and rich families were known for arranging mujras and mehfils in their palatial homes. Mumbai has had ‘pick-up joints’ for over a century. I can list the venues where these activities were conducted in the past decades. Even today, on the Foras Road, Grant Road and Opera House there are homes of dancing and singing girls which are crowded with men from very respectable families who are called Sheths in Bambaiya language. Many Bollywood films showcase this lifestyle, where landlords, goons, criminals and dacoits have dancing girls perform before them. The states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh too are known for this tradition.

“Lavni dancing, which is somewhat like the dances in the bars, is a cultural tradition of Maharashtra and has had generous political patronage because it is considered a ‘folk dance’. These dancers, who perform at all-men gatherings, too have patrons throwing money (this is called daulatjada) at them. Thousands of Lavni dancers make a living through this tradition at regular halls in Maharashtra’s cities and towns. Even politicians are known for patronising Lavni dancers.

“Since there is more money than ever before in the hands of young people today, the culture of mujra dancing and daulatjada has now moved to dance bars, which are open to common people. A huge amount of money changes hands at these bars every day. As was reported recently, one bar girl was found to have a flat and cash amounting to Rs 65 lakh. Earlier, discos were the order of the day. Here, patrons themselves danced on the floor and this was legally acceptable. In dance bars, patrons are not allowed to dance with the girls or to touch them. Changing the law will not control the bar girl or mujra culture because it has been a part of life in Maharashtra – and India – for centuries. Bars will be called something else, but they will remain a part of our nightlife. A legal ban cannot stop such activities and the government should know this,” asserts Navalkar

Among those who are opposing the ban on dance bars vehemently are celebrities like Pritish Nandy, Alyque Padamsee and Mahesh Bhatt as well as several social activists. “The state cannot act as the ‘dad’ of society,” says media magnate Pritish Nandy, “The government wants to curb our rights and privileges, and in this case, it is taking away the fundamental right of the bar girls to work. The government is taking away the jobs of not only bar dancers, but also of lakhs of waiters, bar tenders, stewards, cooks, bouncers, cashiers, security personnel, errand boys, and vehicle drivers.

“It is shameful that the government cannot provide jobs to all citizens but can take away their right to work at its whim – and that too, only in Maharashtra. Dance bars are not illegal. They pay taxes and reportedly, even haftas to corrupt policemen and tax officials. The government has every right to punish those bars that conduct illegal activities – like doubling up as pick-up joints or supporting crime – by cancelling their licences. This is done in the case of pharmaceutical companies, which adulterate drugs. But because of one company’s crime, all drug companies cannot be closed. Will the government close down Mantralaya because some officials ask for bribes? We don’t need ‘patriarchal’ politics in a democracy.”

Mahesh Bhatt and Alyque Padamsee are deliberating on setting up a combine of NGOs, which would offer resistance to the government move to ban dance bars and would fight for the bar girls’ right to work. The Association of Dance Bar Owners is also gearing up all its might to challenge the law in the courts. A few activists, however, say that even a legal ban on dance bars will not affect Mumbai’s energy-laden nightlife.

According to government officials, the diktat is easier to write than implement. The law, even if passed, will be extremely difficult to implement. “There is confusion as to which bars will have to be closed if discos, pubs and other places can operate. How will the segregation take place? There is immense opposition to the law and both bar owners, dancers and their supporters will fight the battle. The law has to be drafted carefully.”

Meanwhile, R.R. Patil, the initiator of the ban, is busy collecting the ‘dark truths’ about bars and bar girls. According to him, they are breeding grounds for criminals. He claims that 11,000 girls are affected and that there are plans to rehabilitate them. “We have information that Central Government employees’ residences in the Antop Hill area in Mumbai are let out to bar girls,” says Patil, “We are writing to the Centre that if it does not want these dwellings, we would utilise them to house our police personnel.”

There are no bets on which side will win — the government or the powerful section of the public that is up in arms.

Dance to live

“If the dance bars are closed, I will have no choice but to turn to prostitution,” says Rubina, a 23-year-old bar dancer of Mumbai, who found her way into this world a year and a half ago.

For most of these girls it is dance or die and each one of them has a story of want and sorrow that compelled them to win bread for them and their families thus. Rubina was a young mother of two and her husband left the family to find work in Mumbai. When there was no news of him, she came to look for him only to find that he had taken on another woman. And, so, for survival she found herself dancing in a bar. She earns Rs 15,000 to 20,000 a month and supports her mother, two brothers and children back home in Kolkata.

It was the Gujarat earthquake that forced Janaki of Mehsana to work and support her younger brother and two sisters. At 28, she has been dancing in a bar and earning as much as Rubina. Half the money goes home.

Many of these dancers are not selling their flesh. Sangeeta of Mumbra in Maharashtra says, ‘It is the choice of a dancer to sell her body or not. Often men want to take me out for the night but I decline. I do not want to be a prostitute.” However, if this law is enacted, Sangeeta, Manju, Ameena, Nusrat, Rajni and thousands of others see prostitution staring them in the face.

Significantly, a number of women’s groups have come out in support of these dancers. Flavia Agnes, women’s activist and lawyer, says: “Dancing and singing are legitimate professions, not new to women. Banning such bars, would violate the right of these women to earn a livelihood, as laid down under Article 21 of the Constitution, as well as the right to carry on a legitimate profession under Article 19.”

Varsha Kale of the Womanist Party of India, who has enrolled many of the 75,000 bar girls into a registered trade union, the Bharatiya Bar Girls Association, questioned the government’s role in the proliferation of dance bars. She points out that after 1996, their numbers has grown rapidly. “Why were licences given out so freely?” she asks. She adds that such a drastic move would render a large section jobless.

And what do men who have visited these dance bars have to say? Artist Diwan Manna says, “On a trip to Mumbai a couple of years ago, I went to a dance bar with a filmmaker friend. The girls are no great dancers but they are doing legitimate work. In fact, these dances do not have half the vulgarity of dances like kanta laga that families see on television.”

Mediaperson Jatin Gandhi adds, “The bars have bouncers and one cannot touch these girls. Depriving them of this livelihood would force them to sell their bodies for a pittance.”

Uprooted bar dancers heading for Gulf, South-East Asia
Bipin Bhardwaj, Tribune News Service

Hoshiarpur, January 31, 2006
After being uprooted from their profession by the Maharashtra Government, scores of bar dancers have found countries in the Gulf and South-East Asia as their next destination.

After leaving Mumbai and Bangalore, hundreds of bar dancers, a majority of whom belonged to Punjab, scattered in different parts of the country in search of work. A number of “bar-balas” landed in towns and cities of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

While in cities like Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur and Bathinda, they earned their livelihood dancing in marriages and private functions.

But with a lean marriage season and lack of opportunities here, they are now turning towards Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Muscat and Singapore in anticipation of a bright future there.

An investigation by The Tribune in cities of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, including Chandigarh, Shimla, Ambala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala, revealed that certain show organisers from these countries, after learning about the uprooting of these girls from their business, started contacting Indian organisers running shows in different hotels in Mumbai and Bangalore.

Assuring a big start to the bar girls, certain organisers visited India and after selecting some of them offered work at different hotels in their respective countries.

Rajinder Kumar, an agent of bar girls who was contacted in Jalandhar, said: “There is a great demand of bar dancers in the Gulf and South-East Asia. Countries like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Muscat, Malaysia and Singapore have a great demand for good artistes. Rich men prefer to entertain their guests at hotels and restaurants there.”

“After closure of dance bars, a number of dancers have shifted to these countries to earn their livelihood. Besides providing good business, the organisers offer safety as they keep them in different hotels,” added Mr Kumar.

Subodh Kumar, another agent, claimed that these countries offered better workplace for bar dancers as a majority of hotels had luxurious dance floors and show organisers were better paymasters.

“Dancers have been suffering huge loses due to the closure of dance bars in Maharashtra. They had been earning very little there as compared to what they have been earning now in these countries,” he added.

A 25-year-old dancer, Kajal, expressed happiness at shifting to Abu Dhabi. While talking to The Tribune, she said: “After closure of dance bars, I worked in Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala and even Shimla. I earned barely enough money to fulfil the needs of my family.” She said she was comfortable working at Abu Dhabi.

Another bar dancer, Arti, who had just returned from Dubai, said it was a good destination as organisers there were better paymasters.

“A large number of Indian bar dancers have already moved to Dubai and many more are on their way. This is all due to the closure of dance bars in Mumbai,” she pointed out.

Another bar dancer, Kajol, said her agent had offered her a chance to work in Dubai. Though she was not aware of the working conditions there, she was keen on undertaking the journey in search of greener pastures.

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Maharashtra ban on dance bars struck down (indiatraveltimes.com)

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday, April 12, 2006 lifted the Maharashtra Government’s ban on dance bars and permitted those with valid licences to resume operations. The High Court gave the state government eight weeks’ time to file a reply on the verdict. The verdict declared on the petition filed by Association of Hotels and Restaurants (AHAR), Dance Bar Owners’ Association (DBOA), Bharatiya Bar Girls’ Union (BBGU) and others challenged the Bombay Police (Amendment) Act, which was enforced on August 15, 2005. The government has introduced the bill imposing ban on dance bars on the grounds that it create law and order problem and the dancers also indulge in prostitution. “The state was trying to supplant its political agenda with a ban and was shying away from its responsibility of regulating the activity,” senior lawyer, V R Manohar said.

As per the figures presented by senior counsel Aspi Chinoy, who represented BBGU, not a single licence was cancelled in the 2,793 cases, initiated against dance bars by the city police between 2000 and 2005. Commenting on the state’s argument that the ban on the dance bars was important because existing laws were insufficient to manage the menace, Chinoy said when the government says that dance bar owners know how to get around the law, it is actually pointing fingers at its own staff. The petitioners contended that by banning dance bars and exempting 3-star and 5-star hotels, the Maharashtra government discriminated between two sections of society. They alleged that this was in blatant disregard to Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality before law.

The Maharashtra government on March 30, 2005 had banned dance bars across the state, except Mumbai. The ban was extended to Mumbai on April 12. The reason that the government gave for the ban was that these bars corrupt the youth. Soon after the decision, the bar dancers had joined hands to oppose the ban. Most of them said they had families to feed and this was the only job which paid them enough. Even several bar dancers, who had been rendered jobless by the Maharashtra government’s ban on dance bars, have committed suicide as they were the only sole breadwinners of their families. The Maharashtra Government had refused to compensate bar dancers after the ban came into effect.

Girls are imported from the subcontinent to keep alive the mujra nightclubs in London

Ishara Bhasi in London investigates in the traditional dance of Lust: Mujra in India, Pakistan and abroad.

It was a night that London socialite Sonam Manchanda (name changed) wanted her guests to remember forever. What better than to have a Meena Kumari lookalike light up her wedding anniversary celebration in Pakeezah style? With this pretty image in mind, Manchanda set out to realise her novel idea-a mujra (a traditional form of Indian dance) party.

But several days of scouting for her dancers-in forbidden clubs with dubious customers in the underbelly of London-dashed her hopes and brought her back to reality. What she came upon were large numbers of vulgarly dressed Asian women offering titillating jerks to raunchy Bollywood numbers. There was neither musical tradition adhered to nor any classical dance steps to speak of. Disillusioned, Manchanda settled for a kathak performance from a reputed dance school for the anniversary soiree.

Manchanda may have spurned the mujra performers in disgust, but obviously these young dancing girls-mostly exports from India and Pakistan-attract a different kind of clientele. Besides performing at mujra clubs that dot the road in the Wembley area of west London and along Rumford Road in east London, the girls also dance at private parties at posh homes. Their popularity spreads by word of mouth. For the girls, the dance form is a means of livelihood but for those who run these clubs it is lucrative business. Says Imran Ali, who used to run such a club for years: “Mujras are big in Pakistan. When we realised that Asians here also wanted to go to mujra parties, we started getting girls from Pakistan and India. You can make a lot of money … there is a lot of demand.”

Girls from India and Pakistan, hoping for jobs, are brought to the UK on entertainment visas usually valid only for three months. Official documents show that the girls are dancers by profession. Sometimes a group of girls may be sighted at London’s townhalls where they also act in “dramas” of dubious taste. While some girls hail from places where mujras are traditionally danced, others take the flight to these clubs, operated by organised gangs, with a dream of making it big in the entertainment industry without comprehending what they are getting into. In Pakistan, where acting in films is not considered respectable, girls seeking a break in showbusiness perform in these clubs as a first step. Some actually get the break they are looking for. “The girl who performed a mujra at my wedding later became a pop star in Pakistan. They all want to make it big in show business,” says Ali, who decided to close shop because of frequent fights between gangsters at the parties. Soliciting customers is not unheard of at such venues. Ali is blunt about it: “They are not forced into prostitution, but if they want to no one stops them. It is their personal business.” Club owners reportedly prefer girls with a mujra background as they don’t usually interfere with their business or demand more money.

THE VICIOUS RACKET
MODUS OPERANDI: Girls from India and Pakistan are brought to the United Kingdom on short-term entertainment or work visas. The official documents show that these girls are dancers by profession.

ORGANISED CRIME: Many of the mujra clubs are operated by organised Asian gangs, adding to the law and order problems in UK.

IMBALANCE OF TRADE: The club owners take 70 per cent of the money that is earned. The rest is shared between the dancers and the band that usually plays raunchy Bollywood “item” numbers.

CAREER DREAMS: Many girls travel to the UK to get a foothold in showbusiness. They consider the mujra clubs as the first step in their careers. Some of the mujra performers have actually got the breaks they were looking for and have ventured into music and films.

Mujra clubs have thrived in London, Bradford and Birmingham for several years but only came into the limelight with the discovery of businessman Tahir Butt’s body in his burnt-out Mitsubishi Pajero in March 1999. At first it was thought his murder was linked to a drug war, but a probe revealed a mujra connection.

According to Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur, head of Specialist Crime Operations at the Metropolitan Police, the growth in Asian prostitution has been part of a general expansion of the sex trade in London. The city, he says, was seeing a significant rise in the number of saunas and brothels partly in response to a decline in street prostitution. Though a large chunk of the women involved comes from eastern Europe, the police are becoming aware of prostitution rackets focused on music groups linked to the Indian and Pakistani film businesses, he says.

In the last few years, London has witnessed a spurt in mujra clubs. Sporting eyecatching names the clubs’ signboards, however, say nothing more. Some just have a number on a banner at the entrance. While entry into most of the clubs is free, a few places charge up to £5 (Rs 370) per head. Most of these entertainment clubs have valid licences so they are legal but they conduct mujra parties under cover.

Young, garishly dressed women sit along the stairs of the clubs smiling and inviting men in. Inside is a large hall with walls of mirror and a raised platform from where the band plays Bollywood songs. A bar in a corner is perpetually packed with merry makers. Men in various state of drunkenness are entertained by girls with heavily made-up faces, false eyelashes, reddened cheeks and long braids. Very 1960s in their looks and dressed in tight cholis and flowing pink ghaghras, they flirt with the customers. The performance reaches a peak when the girls leap about to the Maar dala number from Devdas, then lie flat on the floor to be showered by £10 notes.

In one night, if the business is brisk, a club makes over £29,000, which is usually split in the ratio of 70:30 between the club owner and the performing girls and the band. The clubs have their own classification. Some places are run by women: at one, the owner is a tawny-eyed tigress very protective of her place. She prefers to keep girls from India. Another club-with its bare, whitewashed hall and chairs pushed along the perimeter, a bar, a band and two to three heavily made up girls-draws customers from the working class. Taxidrivers and the like shower coins rather than pound notes. During sessions here, bouncers ensure men don’t get too close to the girls. These girls are also much in demand at private parties. For a three-hour performance with a band and up to three girls, a promoter charges about £700 (Rs 52,000). This is, of course, negotiable, like everything else.

Yasmin Khan, who is researching for a play she is making on mujra clubs sheds some light on how the trade began in the UK. “I used to work for the youth and I often came across disturbed and distressed girls who ran away from homes with their boyfriends only to be forced to perform the mujra in dubious places. About a decade ago, mujra dancers were homeless English or Asian girls,” she says. Knowing how to dance was not a requirement. The girls were put in small rooms, provided food and asked to perform in the evenings. “But the British girls knew they could demand basic living conditions, and soon left,” says Khan, while the Asian girls remained.

Club owners soon realised that bringing in girls from the subcontinent was more lucrative as they would be dependent on them and would not cause much trouble. In most clubs, girls end up living in dingy rooms which makes it easy for them to “entertain” clients in private. Most clubs thrive on conducting private shows where clients can choose a girl for the night. “There are also girls who are wannabe actors or models who perform the mujra when they are in need of cash,” reveals a producer on condition of anonymity. “They earn more in a night dancing the mujra and later offering sexual services than they would in a week on stage,” he adds.

In recent times, the British missions in the subcontinent have become stricter about issuing visas. In Pakistan, the British High Commission has made it mandatory for club owners to prove that the girls are dancers and performers. This means that mujra clubs in the UK may flourish, but hiring girls from the subcontinent may no longer be as risk-free as it has been till now. (published in digitaltoday, AUGUST 25, 2003)

The banned exotic dance Mujra is being organised in secret locations in the city attended by the rich and mighty while flesh trade is thriving in the guise of tawaif and girls are being sent abroad to entertain guests.

Though it is legally banned, the mujra, one of the Indian subcontinent’s most beautiful and ancient dance forms, is being performed secretly among the high class society in posh localities in the city. The exotic dance was banned as it became less artistic and more seductive especially in stage shows.

There are about seven mujra organisers having sensuous girls with them. Even the bar dancers are now learning mujra dancing as the income is high and they get good customers. The organisers charge anything between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh from the customers depending on the manner of the party.

Years ago Mahabub-ki-Mehendi (beloved’s bleach) was famous for tawaif (women who perform mujra) and kota (place where mujra is performed). During the tenure of the sixth Nizam, Mehboob Ali Pasha, Mahabub-ki-Mehendi was famous for singing and dancing and high class people used to send their sons to kota to learning tehazeeb (manners). The tawaif used to teach them how to talk to and behave with the elders that was considered as most important in those days.
Those days mujra performers were totally different from the modern mujra dancers. They never used to expose their body parts before the audience as the modern mujra dancers do now. “There was no vulgarity in kota mujra at that time. Nawabs and big shots chewing special pan-ka-beeda with ugaldan (silver vessel to spit) on their sides were found sitting on cotton bedding covered with white bed-sheets at the kotas. They also used to get a bunch of mogra flowers for the tawaif and tie a string of flowers on their wrists. They used to inhale the smell of flowers while watching them dancing. I noticed this all when I used to watch mujra during my days,’’ Abdul Hasan, said.

When Mahabub-ki –Mehendi area that was popular for only mujra turned into a prostitute den and was declared as red light area, the government decided to ban mujra and Mahabub-ki-Mehendi was sealed.
These tawaif who were accustomed to luxurious living turned prostitutes and shifted to other areas in the city and started full-fledged flesh trade. Interestingly, some of them even now perform mujra in private functions in posh localities.

“We organise mujra in private parties where politicians, police officials and other businessman are invited. We charge Rs 25,000 to Rs 40,000 for a show,’’ Sakku Bai, who organises private mujras said. We also send our girls to Mumbai and Bangalore to known customers in private parties, Sakku Bai said. It is better if modern mujra or the strip dance is being performed in some of the restaurants in posh localities, she said.

The girls usually come from poor backgrounds in India and are lured by promises of performing in genuine Bollywood entertainment shows abroad. Such shows are popular in towns with large Asian populations. In early days they used to perform it openly and after the ban mujra got restricted only to the VIPs.

Surprisingly, in the past 10 years under the cover of Bollywood entertainment, hundreds of young girls from India most of them from Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bangalore and Pakistan have been trafficked to the UK to cater to the sex industry in cities that have large Asian populations. The girls are made to work in what are known as “mujra clubs” where they enact corrupted versions of popular Bollywood numbers in private settings. These, however, are mere showcases for prostitution, servicing large numbers of Asian customers.

“I attended a mujra in a club in America two years back. I really enjoyed it. The Indian girls were beautiful. I left after having dinner. I did not know what happened after that,’’ K Rahul, a businessman said. “In fact, I was invited to private mujra party at a house in a posh locality recently,” Rahul said.

To organise a mujra first of all one should have contacts with old Nawabs and professional mujra organisers. Give the organisers full payment at the time of booking. The organisers come only through known sources. They never respond to strangers.

Recently, Farha Begum, a mujra orginiser collected Rs 70,000 from a well-known businessman and sent five mujra performers to his farm house in Medchal.

“The audience are very decent. They are not like the customers in bars who come close to us and misbehave. I performed more than 100 private mujra parties. I have performed before many politicians, foreigners and very high-class businessmen.’’ Lavanya, a bar dancer who turned into mujra dancer said. “The mujra dance has no vulgarity and is entirely different from any other dance. A mujra dress itself costs upto Rs 50,000 and we wear original jewellery worth Rs 1 lakh while performing the show. It took me one year to learn mujra dancing from Zubaida Begum,” she said. “Five of my friends who were bar dancers opted for mujra and are now performing in star hotels in West Asia and London,” Lavanya said.

The Indian mujra dance is popular worldwide. Most of the businessmen who want to get their contracts signed or celebrate their business successes use them for private mujra party purpose in their farm houses.
The mujra dancers are trained to collect tips. While dancing, they get close to the invitees who are seated on a white cushioned mattress on the floor. They serve them pan and liquor while dancing.

After they audience give tips to the dancers, the dancers give a farshi salam to them. That is the old tradition followed from the time of Nizam. “To respect the king, one used to bend herself and give salam several times while moving backward without showing the back. Showing back to the king was considered very bad manners in those days. A well trained mujra dancer can serve liquor, collect tips and give farshi salam while performing the dance,’’ Nawab Mohammed Naser said.

“Chewing pan, with a bunch of flowers tied up on wrists and watching a mujra performer dance is completely different. This kind of enjoyment and entertainment is never experienced even in the Pole Dance in Thailand,” Naser said.

The mujras are organised very secretly and only in private parties at lavish houses in posh localities or in farm houses but the city police seem to have hardly any information about it.

During the recent years many mujra dancers have migrated to West Asia and western countries. While some of them are still performing shows in Hyderabad, Mumbai, Banglore and Delhi, the remaining ones who earned a lot of money, have settled and are leading normal lives. “The professional mujra dancers are very beautiful. I have been with them and took them to Dubai several times,’’ a former rowdy-sheeter said.

“So far we have raided many bars and farm houses and arrested several dancers including Russian dancers who were performing obscene dances. But we have not got any information about the mujra parties because they are restricted to a very few people not open to the public. If we get any information about it, we will take action against them,’’ a senior police official said.

The professional mujra dancers are very beautiful. I have been with them and took them to Dubai several times

We organise mujra in private parties where politicians, police officials and other businessman are invited. We charge Rs 25,000 to Rs 40,000 for a show

By Syed Omar Farooq in deccanpost.in

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Mery Pholan Wali Kurti

Ishqay Da Dada Roag

Badlan Tu Wasian Ne Kania

Dholna Way Ranjhana

Zara Thora Thora Pichay

Tauba Tauba Kara Ditti Toon Zaalma


Kin Min Layee Kaale Badlaan

Akh Larey Te Larayee Ja Mujra

dance