Sonagachi

Anindita Mazumder

Sonagachi literally means ‘the golden tree’ and the term is often erroneously attributed to the thriving sex trade involving sex workers, pimps, brothel owners and criminals. But Sonagachi Lane opening into Chitpore Road, the oldest part of the Black Town, was named after the shrine of Pir Gazi Sonah Ullah Shah who ministered to the sick and the poor. The oldest red light area in the city expanded to the lanes and bylanes on Chitpore Road like Abhinash Kabiraj Street or Imam Bux Lane. Today, its geographical limits include Sonagachi, Rambagan, Sethbagan, Jorabagan and Rabindra Sarani.

Prostitution being the oldest profession of human civilisation, it is no wonder that the existence of the red light area in Sonagachi dates back to 19th century. Kaliprasanna Singha in Sketches of the Screech Owl (1862) mentions about Sonagachi as a well-known red-light area frequented by many of the ‘lesser’ Babus who decked up every evening in fine dhotis from Shimla, chadar from Shantipur and English shoes to visit the prostitutes. Leaving their homes at dusk they only returned the next morning when cooks would be kneading the dough for preparing breakfast. Just like Battala, neighbouring Sonagachi also flourished due to the patronisation of “Babu Culture”.  While the rich had one and even more mistresses, put up at houses at even the so-called bhadroparas, the lowly paid sex workers were based in Sonagachi and catered to the ‘nabya babus’. Kaliprasanna ridiculed the rural zemindars who spent their entire day at Sonagachi, in company of the cheaper lot.

Prostitution flourished in 18th and 19th century Calcutta with the neo rich, particularly the heads of the Hindu society openly indulging in such lustful practices. It did not raise any moral hackles; Dwarkanath Tagore even enjoyed rent from two houses which served as brothels. Even in the early days of colonisation, prostitutes were not looked down in Indian society. The courtesans of feudal courts or those occupying kothas and catering to the local profligates, contributed to the cultural development of the society through their talents in music and dance. Early colonial administrators recognised and respected this way of life, acknowledging that the life of Indian prostitute was different from her English counterpart.

At around 1800, a survey had revealed that women, primarily from Hindu families entered prostitution compelled by social evils such as polygamy and child marriages leading to early widowhood, seduction and abandonment and running away due to cruelty and torture meted out by family or in-laws. A letter written by a young married kulin Brahmin girl from Shantipur, which was published by Bidyadarshan along with an editorial on the same subject revealed how she had fled her house and took up prostitution in Mechuabazar after she found that she had been married to a 50-year-old man when she was only three. Her sister as well as many of her childhood friends adopted the same profession.

Till 1850s colonial courts summoned clients for defaulting on payments. For instance Horoo Khanki had lodged a complaint against two of her patrons and got redressal from court. But the Crimean War and the rise of Victorian values in Imperial bureaucracy changed the life of Indian sex workers forever. Horrified by the number of soldiers suffering from Venereal diseases, British Parliament enacted the Contagious Diseases Act in 1854 which was subsequently enforced throughout the Empire. Sonagachi was first recognised as a significant red light area when the British enacted the Indian Contagious Diseases Act, 1868 which came in effect on April 1, 1869. Under this act brothel owners and prostitutes were asked to be registered. This was done to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases among British soldiers and officers. At that time there were nearly 30,000 sex workers in the city.

Though often the British Raj encouraged prostitution, rounding up women for the exclusive use of their soldiers, under the new act they were forced to undergo medical examination with instruments after being disrobed, ignoring strong Indian sensibilities against nudity. Many prostitutes were even locked up at Lock Hospitals. Arrest warrants were issued against those who failed to turn up. Prostitution was driven into seedy nooks and corner of criminal underworld. The prostitutes were pushed into a narrower space, deemed outcast in modern society. Though the act was suspended in 1883 and abolished in 1888, the views embodied had by then crystallised in the attitudes and practices of the police and civil administration. Moreover, the liberated Bengali youths with Western Education had the same contempt for the sex trade.

Kaliprassana Singha as a member of Bidyotsahini Sabha wrote a letter to the government asking the government for a clampdown on prostitution and to ensure they have restricted to a specific neighbourhood in the city. By the latter half of 19th century the prostitutes found a place in theatre with the likes of Binodini, Golap or Sukumari Dutta who married a bhadralok or Teenkori sweeping the audience off their feet with their acting skills.

Sonagachi remained on the map as a key red-light area during Second World War too, when it catered the American soldiers though Boubazar, Kalighat and Khiddirpore also came to be identified as key areas of sex trade.

Today, Sonagachi with its congested lanes and cramped and decaying buildings looks no different from other parts of the city. There are nearly 370 brothels, and apart from 4,000 regular sex workers there are nearly 1,500 flying ones who live in other parts of the city.

Agrawalis, the most attractive and experienced ones command the highest price while the aged ones earn quite less amount. There are several systems in vogue to define the relationship between brothel owners and the sex worker. For instance under Chhukri, the brothel owner takes away all the earnings while bearing all expenses of the worker and in case of Aadhiya, the earnings are shared equally between the two.

Sonagachi has won a place in international map for the success of Sonagachi project under which condoms are used mandatorily to prevent the spread of HIV infection. Durbar Mahila Samanway Committee, a forum of sex workers was formed as a result of this project which now works for empowerment of sex workers.