Sunday 17 April 2016

Maharashtra dance bar bill

The Maharashtra Assembly has passed the Dance Bar Regulation Bill, which paved the way for the reopening of dance bars and prescribes strict provisions in cases of violations. The Bill fixes the accountability on the owner in cases of violations, exploitation of female employees or obscenity. The owner or operator of the dance bar faces up to five years imprisonment and fines up to Rs 25000 for violations. The Bill prohibits the serving of alcohol in the performance area. The Bill states that the dance bars should be at least 1 km away from educational or religious institutes. It also bans the bars from operating in residential areas. In semi-residential areas, they can operate only if three-forth residents consent. The timings of operation are also restricted between 6pm to 11:30pm.

Friday 8 April 2016

Religious ceremonies at public functions

The Bombay High Court has recently questioned the plan for the recital of the Hanuman Chalisa at an AIDS awareness programme organized by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation in association with a local temple trust. The Court questioned if India is only for Hindus, or if only Hindus contract AIDS? The Court asked about the nexus between AIDS awareness and the recital of Hanuman Chalisa and asked why only the recital of Hanuman Chalisa and not of other religious texts?
The Court ordered that separate banners should be placed backstage for the two events with the names of the individual sponsors. The judges pointed out that they are not against any religious programme but concerned about the government agencies associating with the.
Following the order, the corporation decided to delink the two functions with at least an hour long recess between the two.
Secularism means that there shall be a separation between State and religion, there shall be no State religion. It means that in a public function, no religion can be promoted. While religious ceremonies are not banned at functions organized by private entities, they cannot take place where the event is organized by the government using public money.