No country for buskers: sans regulation, it’s the end of the road for street performers

Without a formal law to provide protection, busking — the act of performing in public places for voluntary donations — has witnessed a steady decline.

On a Sunday afternoon, Wazid, a 48-year-old street magician, was arranging props for his show in Noida when a bystander walked up to him and told him to leave the spot. “He threatened to beat me up if I didn’t take my performance elsewhere. I had to relent,” Mr. Wazid says, adding that facing such harassment is the daily reality of street performers in the National Capital Region.

Without a formal law to provide protection, busking — the act of performing in public places for voluntary donations — has witnessed a steady decline.

Ishamuddin Khan, a 52-year-old street magician, says the police use colonial-era laws such as the Dramatic Performances Act, 1876, and the Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, 1959, to keep them off the streets.

While West Bengal and Delhi have repealed the Dramatic Performances Act, it is active in modified versions in several States. The Law Commission of India in its 248th report, Obsolete Laws: Warranting Immediate Repeal, had said the archaic law “has no place in a modern democratic society”.

In the absence of clear-cut guidelines, whether a public performance should be granted permission or not is left to the discretion of the local police.

Regulation is needed to provide space to artistes to showcase their talent and earn a livelihood with dignity and without fearing the authorities, says Delhi-based lawyer Abhishek Kumar Pathak.

“Though begging and busking have different literal meanings, Section 2 of the Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, 1959, views busking as a form of begging,” Mr. Pathak says.