(Image source from: Will Goa put an end to its pub culture?})

The next time you are in Goa, lounging at a pub or basking in the beach, watch out for Goa PWD Minister Sudin Dhavalikar. He might put you behind the bars for strolling around in skimpy clothes or sipping on your favorite Bloody Mary in the open. That's right! Mr. Dhavalikar, Goa government’s self-appointed moral police with a zero tolerance for skimpily clad women and alcohol, is out to put a ban on the city's pub culture.

"Scantily dressed girls visiting pubs project the wrong culture and this should be stopped. It does not fit in our culture. What will happen to our Goan culture if we allow this? " Dhavalikar expressed to a team of journos gathered in a resort. But instead of empathy or support, the Minister drew media ire as he pointed out to a girl in short's skirt, much to her mother's discomfort.

A media firestorm ensued, but that couldn't stop the minister from once again putting his foot on his mouth. Talking to CNN-IBN, Dhavalikar said that women should be banned from consuming alcohol, that they should not drink and dance in pubs after 12 am and that he would shut down those pubs that didn't comply to these rules.

Not just that. The Minister also is of the view that women should not stroll around wearing bikinis in public beaches for their own safety. He said that Goa is a city of churches and temples and that “pub tourism” shouldn't be allowed to sully it.

Supporting Sri Ram Sene chief Pramod Muthalik,whose men attacked women in a Mangalore pub in 2009, the minister claimed that Muthalik's initiative to ban pub culture, stop women from wearing short skirts, oppose drugs, sex and nudity is absolutely called-for. Incidentally, Dhavalikar's statement comes at a time when Muthalik is planning to set up an office in Goa.

Although Goan Chief Minister is yet to respond to his minister's views, Dhavalikar said that Parrikar is
on the same page and has ordered shutting down of pubs along the state highways.

If one many recall, CM Parrikar stirred up similar controversy and earned the wrath of women's rights groups after he compared the process of setting up industry in Goa to the plight of a rape victim. "If a woman is raped, she has to deal with enquiries only from one inspector, but if someone wants to start an industry they have to deal with 16 inspectors," Parrikar had said at a meeting with industry leaders.

Parrikar, deemed as one of the more moderate faces of the BJP, sprang to power in 2012 backed by the Catholic church.

After stamping out the Congress party in the 2012 state elections, Parrikar vehemently criticized Muthalik at that time. "I have kept a watch... I want to know who has invited Pramod Muthalik to Goa. Let me come to know and I will take action against them... They will be arrested," he told the state assembly.

However, in just two years times, after BJP swept both the Lok Sabha seats in the state, Parrikar's stance seems to have softened. When asked whether he would ban Muthalik recently, Parrikar would only say, "Who does it (commits violence) is not important, neither the name (of the person) is. We will not tolerate anyone creating law and order problem in the state."

Dhavalikar's remarks too reveals the ruling government's newfound inclination for the rightwing fringe.

But Congress isn't the one to stay mum. Firing salvo at Dhavalikar, Goa Congress President John Fernandes said no violence should be permitted. "There are laws against vulgarism in Goa... as long as those laws are not violated, we have no problem.. but nobody must take law into their own hands," he told Firstpost.

Sabina Martins, convener of Bailancho Saad, a women's organisation in Goa, says it was a problem of mindsets. "Tribal women don't wear blouses, are they going to object to that also? When young girls are on the field playing football, they wear shorts much above their knees, will they object to that? Why is it only when women are going to pubs?" she asks.

While Dhavalikar is all up to ban the consumption of alcohol in the state, his own government is acting otherwise. Earlier this year, the government extended bar timings from 11 pm to 4 am, and has allowed casinos to provide alcohol beverages all through the day and night.

Considering the trend, it is unlikely that women will be barred from entering the Goan bars any time soon. But given that Goa now has a political climate that demands moral policing, you better watch out!

AW: Suchorita Choudhury