Smile, you're on camera: Govt says foreigners partying in Karnataka have to be filmed

At a time when Maharashtra is debating over whether to increase the nightlife time limit from 1:30 am to 4:00 am, the Karnataka government has come up with more rules for their foreign partying enthusiasts. So if you’re not from India, are visiting Karnataka and want to party, you can’t afford to be camera shy. All foreigners partying in the state, will be under police vigil. However, Bangalore which probably has the most expats and tourists in the country has been spared from this rule. [caption id=“attachment_2137309” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Youtube grab of the Spring Zouk Festival 2012[/caption] According to a report in Bangalore Mirror, it is now mandatory to videotape all parties where foreigners have been invited and a full list of the guests have to be provided to the police before hand. The curfew for such parties will be 10 pm. The newspaper accessed a gazette notification dated 26 February, which also states that all parties must adhere to Indian culture and tradition. There was however no definition of what constituted said ‘culture and tradition’. Organisers of all parties and events have to obtain requisite permissions from the deputy commissioner and reveal costs, sources of funding, the name of advertisers and the entire schedule. It is also prohibited to sleep back at the venue. These rules have been imposed in the backdrop of an event that happened in February 2012 at St. Mary’s Island off the Udupi cost, called ‘Spring Zouk’ where evidence of a rave party, with nudity and consumption of alcohol and drugs was presented. The government was slammed for turning a blind eye to this. “We do not want a repeat of the incident. These rules are meant to end display of sleaze in the state,” a tourism department official told Bangalore Mirror. High tourist areas like Hampi and Gokarna have been on high alert ever since for consumption of drugs, alcohol and loud partying. An event manager, who didn’t want to be named, told Bangalore Mirror, “Why would any foreigner wanted to be snooped upon? The government’s move is nothing but intrusion into the privacy of tourists. It would have been ideal for the government to issue a list of dos-and-don’ts for tourists instead of scaring them.”