APPEAL — Bhartiya Bargirls Union

New Delhi, April 15, 2005

The announcement of the government about closing dance bars outside Mumbai immediately and deciding fate of the dance bars in the city within three months was well applauded by the white-collar middle class. At the same time it is about to deprive the source of livelihood for around seventy five thousand bargirls and three hundred thousand male bar workers directly.

Since the government has gone back on its initial promise of rehabilitating bargirls on unacceptable grounds, Bhartiya Bargirls Union has begun indefinite dharana andolan at Azad Maidan from 4th April. The Union is demanding immediate relief for so far affected and complete rehabilitation of all the bargirls and other hotel employees who are about to loose their livelihoods by the State government policy.

Instead of accepting its inability and unwillingness to rehabilitate the victims, the government is coming out with new allegations and myths on the bargirls every day. It is necessary to probe this false propaganda and put facts against myths.

Bogey of Bangladeshi origin

Firstly, Maharashtra Government is avoiding its responsibility of rehabilitation by raising bogey of Bangladeshi origin of the bargirls. It claims that 75 percent bargirls are Bangladeshi. This is not true. This myth was created only to disarm opposition. It is apparent from the fact that the government first declared the percentage of Bangladeshi bargirls and then began surveying bars in Mumbai. Whatever be the percentage of Bangladeshi bargirls, though we request humane and sensitive treatment to them, the Union is asking rehabilitation of only girls of Indian origin. Therefore, if the number of Bangladeshi girls is more the government will have less burden of rehabilitation.

In reality, the percentage of Bangladeshi girls among the bargirls is as low as 3 to 4 percent as most of them belong to traditional dancers, singers and entertaining communities of north and south India. We vehemently protest against this stamping of the bargirls, as they are Indians and their castes and communities have enriched the composite culture of India. We fear that in its bid to avoid its responsibility the government is turning rightist and it will also term the Muslim bargirls of Indian origin and the girls coming from West Bengal as Bangladeshis. This strategy of the DF government may result in popular support for it in the near future but ultimately weaken the secular forces in the state. We appeal all secular people awake and note the change in the tone, language and policies of the government. Failure to understand its impact just because it is employed in the reference of bargirls can be fatal for the people who want to protect secular and humane voice of the state.

Accept responsibility of all

Secondly, the DF government is avoiding responsibility of providing alternate livelihood to bargirls that have come from other Indian states. It is true that majority of the bargirls are from UP, MP, AP, Punjab and Rajsthan.

Marathi speaking girls are only six percent and government is ready to accept rehabilitation of them in principle. The Union think it is unjust, unethical and unconstitutional to deny the rightful compensation to North and South Indian girls. The government agues that the state to which they belong should accept its responsibility and why Maharashtra should bear the burden of 'outsiders' or parprantiya. In the first place, if the government is serious, it should immediately start interstate dialogue to tackle this issue at the national level. The Union thinks that it is only the state of Maharashtra, which alone should accept the responsibility of the rehabilitation for two reasons.

1. These girls are working in the bars to which the state of Maharashtra had issued licence and the government has not prohibited employing artists from other states o India.
2. The state of Maharashtra has received several hundred thousands of rupees in the form of revenue from the dance performances of these girls under various heads.

Further, the union thinks that the government should not adopt parochial and narrow regionalist approach to sensitive and delicate social issue. Again, the position of the DF government to accept responsibility of the Marathi bargirls alone while denying the same to others in the state is unjust, communal and inhuman.

Give them opportunity to live dignified lives

Thirdly, the government has equated the bargirls and other hotel employees with thieves and bandits and it argues that whether they can be rehabilitated?

Primarily it is wrong to compare the two. These are workers, performers and equating them with thieves and dacoits just because the government is not wiling to part the money it has generated through these bargirls in the form of tax, is deplorable. The government should understand that these bargirls are part of the stigmatised and victimised population. Most of them belong to dalit and OBC communities of north and south India. This is traumatic and tragic for them. It is like rubbing salt on the wound. If government is not providing them with alternate livelihood source on this ground, who else in the society will accept them after the government declare them criminals. What the government actually want? It wants to rob them of their source of livelihood, not providing them with alternative and stigmatise them so that they cannot get acceptance in the society again. What will happen to this huge group? The government is not even leaving them with space to find any respectable livelihood opportunity on their own.

Further, the government should understand that in the last few centuries the approach of looking even towards criminals is not that inhuman and insensitive. Even our own laws do not treat them as a group that cannot be rehabilitated. We have instances where bandits, dacoits are successfully rehabilitated. Our jails also try to reform and rehabilitate person. Why not bargirls? Is their any personal rivalry with these poor girls? The job of government is to provide people with opportunity to lead dignified and decent life not to degraded and stigmatised life.

Who is the victim and who is the culprit?

Fourthly, the government is time and again holding the bargirls as corrupting influence on the society while treating the customers who drink and shower money as victims. Who is the victim and who is the culprit? Women who are dancing in front of drunken crowd are being held as culprit while those who are taking pleasure are termed as victims by the State. Nothing can be more unjust and deplorable then this. In reality even the state that is incapable of providing enough employment opportunities for all and in a way force the vulnerable population into various livelihood options that are stigmatised is responsible for the situation of bargirls. The government should have more humane face and treat such social groups caringly and sensitively as victims and not as culprits.

If the bars are closed without proper rehabilitation there will be grave consequences:

1. Bargirls and other male staff will immediately face livelihood and food crisis.
2. This will force bargirls into flesh trade and engage into commercial sex work.
3. This will make their position even more vulnerable and they will become easy pray for international flesh traders engaged in human trafficking which has notoriously emerging as a biggest clandestine industry globally.
4. The huge unemployment among the youth male staff of these bars will force them into criminal activities.
5. Most of the male workers stay in these hotels will be rendered shelter less creating huge crisis.

We therefore are determined to continue our agitation for our following demands:

1. Immediate relief of Rs. 100 per head per person to affected bargirls and other hotel employees.
2. Appropriate and complete rehabilitation of all bargirls and male bar workers.
3. Shelter homes for homeless bargirls and male bar workers.
4. No discrimination in timeframe and principles between Mumbai and rest of Maharashtra.
5. Single committee to decide about the dance bars throughout Maharashtra and representation the bargirls on the committee.
6. Appointment of committee to design and formulate rehabilitation plan on which bargirls should have representation.