They were arrested for dancing in a wedding function and they were made to dance through the night for the police, by the police, and at a police station. The story of four professional dancers, who were forced to stage a mujra at the Harbanspura Police Station (Lahore), where they were held by the police, stands as a living example of how some people at the law enforcing departments abuse their authority.

The news story, published in Daily Times (February 24, 2009), gives a brief account of the allegations of four women dancers from the mehndi (Henna) function of one named Naveed Khan on Saturday night. These dancers were then taken to a male police station held the policemen on duty, including the SHO, and even physically tortured them when they requested for a break. This brutal violation of law by the police continued for four hours, from 12 pm to 4 am.

The inconsistencies in the FIR, registered by the police against the dancers, point to the weakness of the police’s claim denying their abuse of authority. One of the policemen has even been reported to go to the extent of saying that there wasn’t any harm in making professional dancers perform dance. While the accused dancers have been released on bail, the incident puts the meanings of ‘law’ and ‘justice’ in our country to serious questioning. Whether or not the dancers choose to go to the court of law against the police is left to the dancers. What is needed, foremost, is the establishment of an independent inquiry department that is authorized to investigate such allegations and present their report directly to the high court or a concerned legal authority. Failing to launch any inquiry into such cases will only serve to perpetuate the crimes committed by employees of law-enforcing departments.