THE DARK SIDE OF KOLKATA

Kolkata city, or Calcutta, an Anglicized version of the Bengali name Kalikata — or otherwise known as “The city of Joy” or “The city of Palaces”.

Sitting right on the edge of Bay of Bengal, Kolkata is found in East India, in the state of West Bengal- The city is situated at the bank of River Hooghly, a distributary of the River Ganges (Ganga).

                                     
Let’s venture into what makes this Bengali city unique from other Indian cities before we unfold the dark paths it holds-

Kolkata, a metropolitan city home to:

Durga Puja in Kolkata — own photograph; an annual Hindu festival to revere the Hindu Goddess Durga and she is thought to be the greatest festival for the Bengalis.

• Kalighat- A famous Hindu temple to worship the Goddess Kali (PHOTO)
• Park Street: Known as the burial ground of holy roman-catholic nun Mother Teresa, or Saint Teresa of Calcutta who spent the most part of her life in Kolkata. Or for those party goer’s it is known as the street that never sleeps, with nightlife and delicious street food roaming throughout the area.
• The world’s sixth most common language- Bengali
• A population of 14,035,959 making it the third largest urban city in India behind Delhi and Mumbai
• Howrah Bridge: The iconic landmark and symbol of the city connecting the two cities together, Howrah and Kolkata.
• Thousands of sweet, spicy, or “khatta” delicacies running through the street stalls- for instance, Jhal Muri (Hot & Spicy) is the iconic snack food of Bengal
• Eden Gardens: Largest cricket stadium in India and third largest by seating capacity
• Great Banyan Tree: Possesses the world’s largest Banyan Tree, with an age of over 250 years located in Acharya Jagdish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden
• The Indian Museum: Calcutta has the largest and oldest museum of India built in 1814.
• Victoria Memorial: A large marble palace in Kolkata- The construction of the memorial of Queen Victoria was between 1906–1921 after her death in 1901.

                                  

 Great ethnic diversity with all races living amid one another starting with Bengalis, the Ghotis from West Bengal and Bangals from East Bengal, Biharis, Marwaris, Nepalis, Bangladeshis, Chinese, Tamils, Gujaratis, Punjabis, Anglo Indians, Caucasian Europeans (like myself) and far more than you could ever imagine.

                                    

Each community have had their own shared responsibility to contribute towards the society here-

• The Punjabis are responsible for irrigation, warfare, arts&crafts, technology, commerce and business.
• The Chinese are whom that have promoted religious values such as Buddhism and Confucianism and continue to do so today.
• The Marwaris have established the business of cotton, wood, and banking industries.

While the Punjabis, Chinese and Marwaris and many others play an essential role in the society of Kolkata and can live somewhat peacefully together, however, there is often tensed atmosphere among the Hindus and Muslims, nevertheless, this is not the where the major dark path lies.

Not necessarily with the Muslims and Hindus, but with a very close relative of my own; The British and this dates back to a period of over 70 years. Yes, there is a crisis between the two faiths, however, there is something lurking behind all this evident public chaos, in the very streets of Kolkata as a result of the British invasion.

Prostitution and sex trafficking:

It is here I unravel the dark path of Kolkata- “Consciously and unconsciously many of us are feeding these markets allowing it to persist.”

I will unfold what is the largest red light district of India, and South-East Asia, Sonagachi, although first, we must comprehend how prostitution first became established in India.

How did prostitution become established in India and where did it come from?

Colonial India- The year 1600 is where the story begins between the Britishers and Indians, India was beginning to experience such great trauma and tragedy from British East India Company (founded in 1600, 31 December), however, the motherland was soon bound to further devastation and revolution caused by the subsequent British Raj in the late 1800’s until the year of partition, 1947.

The British military had created and established their very own brothels for the troops ‘serving’ India while their wives remained in England. Girls and women were recruited from underprivileged rural families and received money straight from the military itself.

That being said, before the 1860’s Indian governments of princely states had regulated prostitution and it has been recognised as one of the oldest professions of India, even dating back to ancient times. Nevertheless, the first measure to consolidate the system was the Cantonment Act of 1864, which was enacted by the British Raj. There was a further Cantonment Act of 1895, however, it was in 1864 the British Raj succeeded to regulate prostitution in Colonial India in favour of all “required pleasure”.

From this moment with great satisfaction, the British had kept 12–15 women in Brothels known as ‘Chaklas’ for every thousand of British soldiers, and under their control, the women were only allowed to associate with the soldiers.

                                  

“By this point during late 1800’s prostitution came to be not only facilitated, regulated, but encouraged towards Indian society as something to be proud of.”

As a result of this harsh, ludicrous, and revolting enforcement Indian lascar seamen were forced into the British military base in the UK. They would follow their so-called masters with frequent visits to the local British prostitutes there.

 

By the 19th and 20th century thousands of women and girls from Japan and Europe were trafficked into British India and laboured as prostitutes providing services for British soldiers and local Indians.

And today, the infamous and notorious red light district of Kolkata, Sonagachi, is up and running at full speed and is not likely to cease its operations now nor in the near future due to the high number figures raking in and a powerful network of people.

As a result of enforced regulations these are the current laws issued by the government of India: The law enforcement in India for prostitution is often vague, however, prostitution is indeed legal. Other related activities such as committing sexual intercourse in public place, kerb-crawling, owning or managing a brothel, prostitution in a hotel, child prostitution, pandering and pimping are illegal indeed.

How has prostitution affected the society of Kolkata, or the Indian nation?

The reasons for prostitution:

· A lack of parenting.
· Exposure to bad company and influences.
· A family business of prostitution.
· Social ideas and customs.
· No given sex education or knowledge of sex from the media
· Not legible to arrange a marriage
· Prior incest and rape Previous incest family situation or possible rape
· Forced into early marriage (child marriage)
· A lack of ignorance and knowledge causing the acceptance of prostitution within families
· Poverty and economic distresses caused by a poor society or government
· A need for pleasure and greed due to a lack of state of well being and psychological problems.

Are the sex workers working at their own free-will?

The question arises if the sex workers of Sonagachi are willingly offering sexual services and/or if they are being trafficked by pimps.

There are sources which state the most common type of trafficking comes from the offer of false promises and a form of help to fix any crisis or desperate situation, resulting in a force that is used once the prostitutes already have been sold to the buyer.

Other times sympathy, friendship and including harsh threats are given to persuade the women that is it out of their own desire or interest to follow and take part in the business, which has been a major tactic for “Mashis” or otherwise known as the Brothel owners.

It obvious and clear to see that poverty is definitely what drives this business to success and brings women in desperation to prostitution. Women whom that have fought for their livelihood, or mistreated by parents and even possibly groomed by a boyfriend/partner who ends up being a pimp and others, whom that have a lack of education and therefore there is less opportunity of finding themselves work making prostitution a likely option.

It is also the social factors we must consider, regarding the status of the woman. It has been thought of as over a long duration, that women are a commodity, an item, or shockingly in some cases; a piece of meat.
Unfortunately, in some specific societies and cultures of India, the reality is women that have already committed to such sexual acts are considered “used and worthless” or “characterless” and this means the woman’s likelihood to marry is very low. For that reason, a woman not legible to marry will be portrayed as an outcast in the community.

And shockingly it doesn’t stop there, there are child prostitutes, religious prostitutes, sexual abuse, unable to be married are some significant factors too that forces the woman on this ever so a rocky journey to the dark side of prostitution and from there, there is no returning.

What prostitution may bring on as a result of such extreme conditions:

- Traumatic brain injury
- HIV
- STD
- Psychological disorders (Anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder etc)
- Cervical cancer

Who are the women working for this industry?

As of 2012, Sonagachi was estimated to have over 11,000 prostitutes, tawaif or a devadasi as they have been originally labelled. However, the precise number of prostitutes in Kolkata is unknown really. Other estimates state that there are more than 6,000 brothel-based women and girls in prostitution in Kolkata.

The majority of prostitutes that are working in Sonagachi are Nepalese, Bangladeshis and Indians. There are sources that make a figure of 30,000 Bangladeshi women in brothels of Kolkata.

Overall, studies have shown there to be more than 20 million prostitution across the Indian subcontinent and according to a Human Rights Watch report, there are as many as 35% of girls entering the industry at the age of 18 or less.

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Overall- We realise that money is the power of all evil, while their continues to be poverty, unstable and desperate people there will always be a market of illegal trafficking through manipulation and exploitation of the product or person. On my half, I conclude that we are fortunate in the west to have strong regulations to deter these monstrosities from occurring. However, I feel the deepest sadness because it is we, who have played a major cause this crisis and now with the contribution of us, we must work together to make things right and improve the overall state of the societies, homes, and lives of all women living in poverty-stricken communities.

 If the estimates shown proven to be true, a gob-smacking 20 million prostitutes is definitely something to fight for, and it is clear by this figure poverty is a bigger problem that we may account for. And if you compare that to the rough estimates of 70,000 working prostitutes in Britain, there is an serious problem. Is important to note that “we are all unconsciously and willingly encouraging active crimes and unethical acts if we do not acknowledge the core problem and simply ignore it whilst we enjoy our comfortable lives.”

                                 
                                      And the journey continues…. Kolkata 2017