KATHMANDU, NEPAL — If you’re thinking of going to Kathmandu, keep in mind that the country’s new Maoist government is dedicated to severely restricting the ability to enjoy late night erotic delights – all in the name of maintaining law and order, of course. As is often the case, one of the moves chosen by the Nepalese government to improve the weakening public security of the nation’s capital has been to crack down hard on active social night spots.
So intense has been the harassment of night clubs, discos, and dance bars during the past two weeks that hundreds of employees converged on Kathmandu Monday. Those assembled protested authorities’ efforts to crush establishments that allow “nude dancing” and hold them accountable for the city’s ills.
It is believed that there are hundreds of clubs within Kathmandu valley that offer or allow nude entertainment, although the Hindu majority society has outlawed it. Ironically, Reuters reports that there are no specific laws available to lawmakers hoping to regulate the businesses.
Protestors, most of whom are bar or disco operators, fear that increasing restrictions, which have previously included mandatory 11:00 pm closure, will drive them out of business and plunge 80,000 people into unemployment.
The past two weeks have seen a drastic increase in the number of police raids on nude dance locations and have netted 1,500 detainments by representatives of the Maoist regime which took power in August.
Officials assure the public that both those found dancing nude and those patronizing them will be charged under the public offence act and sentenced to as much as a year in jail and $400, if found guilty.
