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Couples banned from dancing in Rajkot

Three Hindu organisations have banned couples from dancing together during new year parties in Rajkot and even the police seem to have given in to their demands.

Two hotels in the city, the Garden Water Park and Motel The Village, had requested the police for permission to organise dance parties. However, when the Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Shiv Sena came to know about the events, they objected and said they would not allow couples dancing in public places as it was against Hindu culture.

Raju Dave, local president of the Bajrang Dal, told rediff.com, "We believe that these types of celebration are an attack on our culture. We are against of such obscenity in our city."

Asked how would enforce his views, he said, "If our workers find couples dancing indecently, we will ask the organisers to stop it. And if they do not agree, they will have to face the Bajrang Dal's wrath."

When asked to elaborate, he said, "What Hanuman did in Lanka, we will do in Rajkot."

Interestingly, the police also seem to favour the right-wing organisations.

Rajkot Police Commissioner Sudhir Sinha told rediff.com, "Actually, we have not banned dance parties. But we have only objected to couples dancing. Moreover, 400-500 couples dancing in one place is not suitable to our city's culture. And therefore, we have banned such events on a commercial level."

"This kind of dancing had never taken place in Rajkot. We have to consider the culture and tradition of the city before giving permission for such events. Dinner and music parties will be allowed. But couples dancing won't," he said.

The Bajrang Dal has also formed a special squad to stop such parties and keep a vigil throughout the new year night.

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