Politicians in Maharashtra have found a grave issue to deal with: cheerleaders.
The state government on Thursday asked franchisees of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to seek permission for cheerleaders’ performances during Twenty20 matches.
Minister of State for Home Siddharam Mhetre said IPL organisers would have to seek the government's permission for cheerleaders’ dances during the matches.
"The scantily clad foreign girls' dances are certainly obscene and do not gel with Indian sensibilities, culture and ethos," said Mhetre.
Mhetre made the statement after BJP leader Nitin Gadkari demanded in the state legislature last week to ban the cheerleaders.
"The government had done the right thing in banning the dance bars in the state. It must do the same thing in the case of cheerleaders’ dances which are worse," Gadkari had said.
Are politicians right? Are cheerleaders, what they wear and how they dance an issue? Do cheerleaders demean cricket?
CNN-IBN's Anubha Bhonsle asked this on Face The Nation to cricket commentator Mandira Bedi, advertising guru Alyque Padamsee, historian and cricket writer Ramachandra Guha, and Poornima Advani, former chairperson of the National Commission for Women.
Guha said dancing cheergirls were no "Bolshoi ballet" but politicians would achieve nothing by banning them.
"I feel an aesthetic distaste for this (cheerleaders). I feel it is demeaning to women and I think it distracts from cricket. I think it plays to the depraved base instincts of the repressed Indian male," he said.
Dancing cheerleaders are not the high point of culture but then Twenty20 is not classic cricket, said Padamsee. "Twenty20 is entertainment. It is like WWF, which is not wrestling. Cheerleaders add cheer to the game and yes they wear skimpy costumes but I think there is nothing wrong in that. Item girls in Bollywood films wear much less, so what is the hullabaloo about," said Padamsee.
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Bedi said cricket is entertainment and cheerleaders add to the entertainment. "They don't demean baseball or basketball in America and they don’t demean cricket," she said.
India is not America, said Guha. Cheerleaders "disrobing" in America and disrobing in India is not the same. "There are cultural differences. We in India don't have to accept every thing from the West."
Advani called the cheerleaders "gross obscenity" and saw no reason why India must import Western concepts of entertainment. "Tomorrow, somebody will demand gay and lesbian parades in India. Is that what you want to teach the next generation of India," she said.
Cheerleaders were not an issue in the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa. If they seem to be all over the game during IPL it is perhaps because telecasters choose to focus their cameras on them, said Bedi. "Perhaps cheerleaders should be more modestly dressed, but Twenty20 has brought in lot more fans for cricket." The focus is on cricket.
Agreed, Guha. “Let us focus on the game, not the cheerleaders,” he said.
Results of SMS polls question: Do cheerleaders demean cricket?
No: 70 per cent
Yes: 30 per cent
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