Eunuchs may dance in Bangalore live bands

With a view to circumventing the prevailing ban on women dancing in bars, live band owners in Bangalore are planning to bring in eunuchs, who can legally dance the night away.

During a protest demonstration at Cubbon Park in Bangalore seeking Government permission for live bands, the Karnataka Live Band Restaurants’ Association gave the onlookers a glimpse of the dancing skills of eunuchs.

A group of about 20 eunuchs swivelled their hips and gyrated to the tunes of film songs as part of the protest.

The protest comes barely a fortnight after the Karnataka High Court ordered the Bangalore police to consider the pending applications by Live Band Restaurant Owners. The police had been refusing permission for live bands under the stipulations of the Excise Act, which prohibits employment of women in places where liquor is served.

“If there is a ban on women dancing in bars, we will rope in eunuchs as there is no ban on them”, said President of the Karnataka Live Band Restaurants’ Association Sanjay Kochhor.

More than 100 live bands in Bangalore were forced to shut shop in 2005 after the police withdrew their licenses under the provisions of the Excise Act, which not only prohibits serving of liquor beyond 11.30 pm, but also bans employment of women in bars.

“If girls are not allowed to dance, we will bring eunuchs from neighbouring states and ask them to dance”, Kochhar said.

Bangalore City’s Additional Police Commissioner Gopal Hosur, however, said the police department would have to stick to the rules. The Excise laws prohibits women from working at bars as bartenders or dancers, he said.

“There is a certain level of decency to be maintained in the society. We will take a decision depending on the norms or society and the law of the land”, he said when asked about the High Court’s recent order to consider the long pending applications of the live band owners in Bangalore.