[Reader-list] IFS '07 Displacement of prostitutes - 6th posting - Aug 2007

[SUROJIT SEN]

HI All,
  Sorry for the late. This is my 6th posting.
  Prostitutes in Chandannagar :  Prankrishna Datta  in his Bodmaes  Jobdo has described the condition of Sonagachi in Calcutta in the wake of the CDA 14 of 1868. While in Calcutta  ‘most of the brothels are lying vacant, Chandannagar is fast thriving ( as a shelter of sonsgachi’s prostitutes. Because Chadannagar’s red light area was 150 years old at that time ).  In Calcutta, house owners of the brothels are crying hopelessly, whereas in Chandannagar house-rent has shot up from Rs.10 to Rs.50 ( a month ). It also gave a fillip to the activities of the lumpen in Chandannagar.’ With this background in mind , let us now have a look at the Chandannagar scenario.
  The oldest red light areas in Chandannagar were located at khejurtala near lakshmigaunge bazaar and at Hathkhola by the river Ganga. None of these centers now exists. The khejurtala  centre closed down about 20 years ago around 1987/1988. It has a history which dates back to 1696 when the French founded their fort in chandannagar. It also coincided with the influx of a large number of people from Bardhaman invaded by the rebel Zamindar  Shova Singh of Medinipur in 1693. Various occupational groups belonging to the lower rung of society constituted this migrant population.  Besides, there were soldiers in the fort; they held mostly from south India. The khejurtala brothel   came up to entertain these people in the early 18th century. The cultural milieu in Chandannagar, relatively free from Brahminical Puritanism, was not very conservative. Hence the newly founded city did not witness any local resistance to the growth of this red light area. The customers comprised family
 drop – outs, soldiers, the French  employees and the businessman who settled in Chandannagar from outside.  A section of the rich aristocratic class also used to patronize the prostitutes. 
  In addition to them, there were some absentee landlords from Calcutta, both Bengali and non Bengali, who bought houses and garden- houses in Chandannagar during this time. They also joined the rank of customers. As we have already noted, Calcutta witnessed a flood of publication of satirical sketches in connection with the Act14. Of them, Panchali kamalkali by Aghorchandra Ghosh describes the condition of prostitutes in chandannagar during this period.
  In a pithily satirical tone, Ghosh writes in verse that invoking the name of Gouranga ( Sri Chaitanya, their lord ) and putting their bags on the hanging rope shelves, the Vaisnavas ( the devotees of Sri Chaitanya ) are now ‘ peeping into the rooms of whores’. These people were in fact  regular  whore  - visitor migrants from Calcutta who were then living in Chandannagar in the guise of vaisnavas . Aghorchandra  also refers to the newly emerging babu class ( nou – veau riche ) characterized by their fashionable hair style and cigars in the mouth – they were also regular visitors to brothels. These babus came mainly from middle and higher middle class families and besides whoring their another passion was the popular theatre culture. Gondalpara, an old, renowned area in Chandannagar may be cited as a case in point. In order to bring these babus under control, the elderly people in that locality closed the theatre club and opened a library in its place. The mention cigar is
 also significant. Cigars were then easily available in Chandannagar and became a hallmark of babuism. Even today, cigars are sold in cigarette stalls at Lakhshmiganj – the area where the oldest brothel known as Khejurtala came up in the early 18th century and continued to exist the late 1980s. 
  The second part of the poem clearly reveals the pitiable condition of prostitutes in Chandannagar. A large number of them were Brahmin girls who earned fame for their beauty. With the number of prostitutes suddenly rising as a result of migration from Calcutta their ‘ rate’ fell down according to the law of market economy. Hence they had to accept the customers who were far inferior, in terms of social /caste rank to the pretty girls of Brahmin caste. Aghorchandra laments that the poor laborers ‘ who live in huts of palm leaves’ are now lying with the prostitutes ‘on the cozy beds’.
  It is important to notice that Chandannagar prostitutes had earlier maintained a caste discrimination. As for example, they did not accept Muslim customers. Some Muslims therefore, used to visit brothels posing as Hindus with their beards shaven off. The Act 14 however changed the scenario, by lowering the rate and rank of prostitutes. It is said that even the poor boatman now began to visit the high-ranking brothels at Farasdanga ( land of French ) and the prostitutes had to entertain them. This is how the new act dealt a blow to the social standing of prostitutes in Chandannagar and , in fact, opened up a new chapter in the history of flesh trade in this French – ruled city.                   
   

       
---------------------------------
 Did you know? You can CHAT without downloading messenger.  Click here