Apr 25 2008
Maharashtra bans cheerleaders for IPL match!
The glamorous cheerleaders in short skirts and short blouses might have made their place among the film stars and the ongoing IPL cricket matches but their presence has started a moral debate among the political leaders.
The Maharashtra government said it will not allow the specially hired girls to go on with their ‘vulgar and obscene’ performance during the April 27 league match at Navi Mumbai.
The semi-nude girls entertain the viewers by dancing when players hit boundaries and six or anybody gets out without scoring. Some of the ministers have told the girls ‘worse than bar dancers’.
Minister of State for Home Siddharam Mhatre described the cheerleaders and their dancing at the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches as ‘absolutely obscene’.
“We live in India where womanhood is worshipped. How anything obscene like this cans can be allowed?” he asked.
Mhatre wondered why the organizers require ’semi- nude’ women to entertain people at cricket matches.
“The organizers may have invested crores of rupees organizing such matches. But this does not mean that they make semi-nude women dance in front of people,” he said.
Mhatre suggested organizers can use animated characters when players hit boundaries and six or anybody gets out without scoring.
Some cricketers also gave comments regarding the issue. Pakistan Cricketer Shahid Afridi said that the semi-nude girls are diverting the attention of batsmen, hence they should be banned.
On the other side, BCCI president Rajiv Shukla said that there is nothing wrong in the dancing of cheerleaders to enhance the magic of the cricket. He said that the girls dance at sixes and fours only and this is only for a little amusement.
However, Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan favors the cheerleaders and he did not find anything vulgar about them.
“What’s wrong with cheerleaders? I am also a family person, I do not see anything negative in it,” the actor, who owns the Kolkata Knight Riders, said.
