[Reader-list] IFS-'07 Displacement of Prostitute-A tale of two cities in two centuries-First posting

[SUROJIT SEN]

Hi All,
  This is my first posting.
  I'm Surajit Sen, residing at Chandannagar, 33Km away from Calcutta towords north.I do research for documentary film, write script for TV, review book and presently working on my first novel titled CITY EDITION.
   
  My project is displacement of Prostitute - A tale of two cities in two centuries.
   
  Last four years I have been reading thoroughly 19th century Bengali text( non fiction - prose). Bodmayesh Jobdo or Wicked Punished by Prankrishna Dattais such a text (1869) where we see prostitutes of Sonagachi (north calcutta) fled to French Chandannagar from British Calcutta, because of a law named CDA14 or Contagious Disease Act 14. 
   
   
  In my project I will analyse the politics of British government in the name of hygine, behind the enactment of the law.
   
  In mid- eighties of twentieth century in Chandannagar onehundred fifty years old prostitute settlement was demolished in the name of social pollution. It is like a repitation of Bodmayesh Jobdo. I will analyse the politics of State.
   
  Ministry of women and Child welfare of Central government is planning to put a bill on Loksabha to abolish prostitution again which sounds like Bodmayesh Jobdo.
     Displacement of Prostitutes  A Tale of two Cities In two Centuries                           Surajit Sen   
  Prostitutes have always been a marginalized section of society earning a precarious livelihood under the conditions of patriarchy and all the time being reviled by the moral police. While the nouveau-riche made it a status symbol to   visit prostitutes of fame and wealth, the conservatives as well as newly educated middle class portrayed them in the deepest dye as a source of moral pollution and contamination. Innumerable   pieces of skits and lampoons were written vilifying the prostitutes. The meta- narrative  of the 19th century social history conceals many tales of dispossession and displacement of the  marginalized, sometimes with  the active agency of the colonial power. One such incident that deserves attention is the exodus of prostitutes from Calcutta to Chandannagar.      
   
  To go beneath the meta-narrative means that we have to look for new subtexts mostly obscure and now relegated to oblivion One such forgotten text is  Bodmaish Jobdo or Wicked Punished by Prankrishna Dutta. The text is Full of authentic details about the trade which flourished along Chitpur Road, which, interestingly, enough not far from the seat Bengali Renaissance. The sprawling. quarters were known  as the Sonagachi area extending from Nutanbazar to Fauzdari Balakhana (criminal court ) . The present day crossing of Chitpur Road and Kolutolla marked the lower extreme of the red light area. Another skit writer Hootom ( literally the barn owl ) provides us with more information related to the area, the prostitutes, pimps and their clients.
   
  The colonial authorities informed by the new sense of  hygiene and health sought to impose new restrictions on the thriving flesh trade. In 1868, the colonial authorities enacted a law better  known as  Chaudda Ayin (Contiguous Disease Act !4) which enjoined that all the prostitutes as well as their clients will be brought under health  check ups to determine if they were suffering from venereal disease like syphilis, which was wrecking havoc. The enactment also stated that if any prostitute or her client was found suffering from any such disease, he / she would have to be admitted to hospital ( Lock Hospital ) and treated. Those who would not willingly submit themselves to this new health regime were liable to be arrested. One of the reasons why the government went for such harsh measures was its anxiety about the health of the British soldiers, many of  whom frequented the red-light area. Further, we have to consider that the great mutiny which had badly shaken the
 foundations of the Empire, only 11years ago was enough  to warrant  such a measure to ensure the health and efficiency of the British civilians and soldiers.
   
  The regulation created panic among the prostitutes were not homogenous community but rather a fragmented one . Those who had rich patrons naturally enjoyed protection but the poor were unprotected and vulnerable. There clientele mostly came from the working class and small professionals. As a consequence prostitutes began to flee their traditional haven and started flocking to Chandannagar, only 30 Kilometers upstream. As it was a French enclave, the British rules could not be enforced there. The restrictions were operative for twenty years. When it was relaxed and finally withdrawn the prostitutes heaved a sigh of relief. However, it is not known whether they were  living at Chandannagar during the whole period or their journey home started earlier. 
  The story of the dispossession of the marginalized continues in different form and with a different rationale in Chandannagar in the post colonial period. The red-light area of Chandannagar along G. T. Road was the source of civic annoyance, as a thorn in the flesh. After the independence Chandannagar had lost much of  it’s former glory. The flesh trade therefore no longer thriving. The clientele now consisted mainly of small traders, factory workers, vendors and rickshaw pullers, for the prostitutes it was an uncertain and precarious existence. In the mid eighties the prostitutes were evicted by a combination of civic organization, the ruling party and of course , with the generous help of the realtors. Ironically here again we find the repetition of the health regime of 1868, though this time in the name of ‘moral grab’! The eviction process was quick and ruthless and as prostitutes did not meet with any protest or opposition. The house of ‘ill-fame’ soon changed hands,
 were  pulled down to make expensive apartment blocks, shopping plaza and car parking area. The whole  exercise must have been well planned and the chief beneficiaries were the ruling party and the realtors. We can easily see the connection that how leftist government of West Bengal has espoused the popular brand of ‘development’ sponsored by the capital and the state and the prostitutes has become the victim of their widespread vested interests.
   
  As recent as this year the government of India has brought in a law(suppose to get approval of Loksabha) which proposes to impose strong restrictions on the prostitutes and their clients. It almost looks like a reinforcement of the Contagious Disease Act 14 to serve state’s own interest.It sounds like state is going to write a twenty first century version of Bodmaish Jobdo   
   
   
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