Denying allegations that the Mangaluru City police were forced by right-wing activists to get women out of a party, the city police commissioner, S Murugan said that the organisers did not have the necessary liquor permission.
According to a Hindustan Times report, Mangaluru police forced women dancing at a discothèque of a three-star hotel to leave on Saturday night, allegedly at the behest of the Bajrang Dal.
The incident was first brought to attention on micro-blogging site Twitter by a journalist who alleged that the police chief was in the dark about his personnel’s help to a Hindu organisation in the vigilante move.
Police sources said the crackdown was necessary because underage revellers were dancing but denied that only women were asked to leave.
Based on the photos given to Hindustan Times by one of the organisers, only men were having a good time on the dance floor. The photos were taken between 8.26 pm and 9.07 pm, much after the police raid.
However, Murugan denied the allegations saying that there are “always vested interests behind any news on social media.”
The consent to hold the event was cancelled on grounds that the organisers did not have the requisite liquor permission. They were allowed to hold the event, have their food minus the liquor, and disperse. We received a verbal complaint from an organisation and they did not interfere or accompany us. Action will be taken against the officer for giving permission for the event without a thorough scrutiny.
— S Murugan, Police Commissioner
To make the situation worse for the police, Bajrang Dal’s state president in Mangaluru, Sharan Pumpwell expressed his happiness at the immediate action taken by the police and added that activists of his outfit were waiting outside during the raid.
Police went inside and asked the girls to leave. We thanked Mangalore police for their action. Earlier, they were not cooperating with us but that has changed in the past few months.
—Sharan Pumpwell, Bajrang Dal’s state president
Moral Policing
Comparing this incident to the January 2009 pub attack, where women were molested and beaten by Sri Rama Sene activists for partying, he said, “We are criticised when we take law into our own hands to save our women. This time, we followed the law and complained to police about the immoral activities.”
Dance parties are organised by the drug and sex mafia. Women dancing in front of hundreds of unknown men is against Indian culture.
— Sharan Pumpwell, Bajrang Dal’s state president
A reveller who had gone with his wife and children told the Hindustan Times that the police entered the venue at 6.45 pm and told the organisers to stop the music.
“They are now asking the organisers to make all the women leave. There are five or six European women. They are also being forced to leave,” he narrated over the phone while the raid was on.
The foreigners argued with the organisers and demanded a refund of the entry fee, he said before passing the phone to one of the women. “Bad, bad…”, the woman shouted on the phone.
The newspaper quoted a man who was part of the light and sound production crew saying:
The police stopped the music around 7 pm and allowed us to restart it in 45 minutes after all the women had left. They ordered us to turn down the volume.
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