The controversy over the Madhya Pradesh minister's patronisation of a bunch of dancers from a state's tribal area is still raging on. The Congress is calling the dance vulgar, while BJP leaders are describing the folk dance as a symbol of the Bundelkhand culture. While the dance generally performed by women of the Bedia community on festive occasions includes suggestive moves, it has always been taken as part of the local culture. But as the Indian Express reported: [Link]
Finally, someone remembered that back in the early 1990s, the state government had started a campaign to help women from the Bedia community get alternative employment opportunities. The men from the Bedia tribe initiate young girls into prostitution and live off them, a practice common in Madhya Pradesh and a couple of other bordering states.
Meanwhile, we can keep lambasting these indecent tribals for their vulgar displays of whatever constitutes culture.
