Jayalalithaa is wrong: Clubs are free to ban dhotis if they please

“(I) Won’t hesitate in cancelling licenses of clubs who indulge in such acts, says (Tamil Nadu chief minister) Jayalalithaa referring to the refusal of entry to a dhoti-clad judge by a city club,” Firstpost reported a few minutes ago. If she does, Jayalalithaa will only underline the authoritarian manner in which Indian politicians think and rule. A club is not a public place. “Historically, Clubs occurred in all ancient states of which we have detailed knowledge. Once people started living together in larger groups, there was need for people with a common interest to be able to associate despite having no ties of kinship. Organizations of the sort have existed for many years, as evidenced by Ancient Greek clubs and associations in Ancient Rome", says the Wikipedia definition of ‘club’. [caption id=“attachment_1621047” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  AFP[/caption] The highlighted words are the key. “People with a common interest” ensures exclusivity and not inclusivity. For example, a golf club is a club of people with a common interest in golf and a bridge club a collection of people with a common interest in bridge. Clubs make rules that a majority of their members agree on – and each time a rule is made, the club becomes, almost by definition, more exclusive in nature. As a result, we see the South India Club in Calcutta deciding that only vegetarian food is served, we see Calcutta Club deciding that women cannot enter the first floor, we check our footwear before entering Bombay Gymkhana to check that we are wearing closed shoes, and the Willingdon Gymkhana doesn’t encourage politicians (including Jayalalithaa) as members. Smoking is a no-no in some clubs and allowed at others, drinking is the cornerstone of some clubs and a taboo at others. The point is – these are rules made and respected by those who the club was formed for. These are not whims and fancies and hangovers of colonial rules; these are rules that members of clubs choose to respect and live with. As with all rules, these can be changed. Not by executive order or governmental or media pressure, but by the rules of the club. Jayalalithaa’s suggestion that she would cancel licenses smacks of authoritarianism and a complete lack of respect for citizens at large. As long as clubs do not break the laws of the land, she has no business interfering in the rules they make or do not make. There are clubs where someone in a veshti is unwelcome and would stand out in a crowd – and there are those where shirts and trousers would be unwelcome. That’s because clubs are meeting places for like-minded people. If Jayalalithaa has a different view than the majority of the members of a particular club, it’s clear that she needs to find another club that she feels at home in. There will be many such. The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association Club is clearly not one of them.