Saadat Hasan Manto was known as a major author of Urdu literature, and one of his best-known short stories is Kali Shalwar, published in 1941. The short story introduces the reader to the plight of a prostitute named Sultana who faced socio-economic marginalization. It is of immense importance to critically understand the nature of Kali Shalwar to gain insights into the historical changes that prostitutes experienced under the British Raj.
When this fictional literary work was published, the nationalist movement was at its peak and awaiting the transfer of power from the British. One needs to think about how nationalism perceived prostitutes who were subject to state-sponsored regulations. To understand this, a historical approach is used to establish a connection between the past and the present. It is important to recognize that the socioeconomic situation of sex workers has not changed significantly since then.
Commercialization of colonized women’s bodies
Cantonments were built in British India to station and house military troops. Kali Shalwar begins with Sultana, a “prostitute” who makes a living offering sexual services to British soldiers in Ambala Cantonment. This was a historical practice that was used commercially during the British Raj. After 1857, large numbers of British troops were recruited to protect the occupied territories. It became important to ensure their health so that their services could benefit the regime. As a result, the Cantonment Act of 1864 was introduced in response to the Royal Commission into the Sanitary State of the Army of India (1863), which had found the prevalence of venereal diseases among British soldiers. The cantonal law provided for medical checks for prostitutes who were registered in the cantons. If they were identified as infected, they were locked up in lock-up hospitals.
The short story introduces the reader to the plight of a prostitute named Sultana who faced socio-economic marginalization. It is of immense importance to critically understand the nature of Kali Shalwar to gain insights into the historical changes that prostitutes experienced under the British Raj.
To prevent European troops from resorting to masturbation and homosexual activity, state-sponsored prostitution was widespread in the cantons of the United States Mid-nineteenth century. By introducing and imposing regulations, an attempt was made to attribute prostitution exclusively to European soldiers and to view it as a sanctioned practice in the cantons.
Along with the Contagious Diseases Act of 1864, the Contagious Diseases Act of 1868 was colonial legislation aimed at preventing sexually transmitted diseases such as syphilis and gonorrhea through medical examinations of prostitutes in order to protect British soldiers. This medical practice ignored men because they spread disease. This could be seen as a result of the imposition of Victorian morals and values in India, where prostitutes were considered immoral women. These legislative measures were introduced primarily to institutionalize new rules for prostitution. The Cantonment Acts of 1864, 1880, 1889, 1893 and 1897, along with the Indian Contagious Diseases Act of 1868, provided separate areas in which prostitution could be carried out.
Source: Rekhta.org
During the British Raj, the bodies of local prostitutes were commercialized to serve British troops at the expense of their rights. This eventually led to discrimination against prostitutes in Indian society.
However, it is wrong to assume that the colonial authorities alone were responsible for the marginalization of prostitutes and their rights. Accordingly Uma Chakraborty In relation to colonialism, gender and nationalism, prostitutes were marginalized in Indian nationalist discourses as they were not viewed as ideal women by early reformers. More specifically, it was a way to control women’s bodies by viewing prostitutes as immoral and a threat to a nation’s reputation.
According to Chakravati, both colonial authorities and nationalist reformers wanted to control women’s sexuality, but with different goals. The former aimed to protect the health of soldiers, while the latter aimed to protect their nation’s good reputation. In fact, racial segregation existed between colonized prostitutes and European prostitutes to preserve national pride. Dr. Ashwini plays argues that there was a racially stratified system in Bombay, with large numbers of brothel workers coming from different parts of the world. Local women were more numerous in prostitution than Eastern European women. It was mainly these local prostitutes who lived in the cantons. Colonial authorities were concerned about the presence of British women in prostitution, seeing it as a threat to their nation’s pride. There are historical records showing that British women were often forced to return to their homeland.
Kali Shalwar sheds light on migrants who face socio-economic limitations
Manto’s Kali Shalwar also reflects marginalized prostitutes who face socio-economic constraints when they become migrants and move to big cities where there is strong competition. The protagonist Sultana, who initially enjoys financial independence in Ambala through her services to European soldiers, emigrates to Delhi at the suggestion of her lover Khuda Baksh in order to have better opportunities there. She begins to lose her financial independence, which she believes happened at the hands of Khuda Baksh, whom she considers her good luck charm. She faces economic constraints as she is unable to buy a Kali Shalwar (a black pant) for Muharram. Ambala was known for its large cantonment, where a large number of British soldiers in need of sexual services were stationed, allowing prostitutes to maintain their finances. Delhi was a large area where there was strong competition for livelihood. Mantos Sultana migrates to Delhi and sells her gold jewelry to make a living. Likewise, migrants who migrate to large cities without their essential belongings face socio-economic constraints in other cities due to intense competition. Their identity also limits their access to resources and opportunities.
Marginalized people used the English language to express needs
Manto’s Kali Shalwar describes marginalized people using the English language to express their needs. After migrating from Ambala to Delhi, Sultana faces an economic crisis and while talking to her friend, she expresses her economic hardship by uttering certain English words: “This life is very bad.” She learned these words from European soldiers in Ambala Canton. This narrative reflects a historical shift brought about by Thomas Babington Macaulay’s emphasis on English as a medium of instruction in the 19th century.
Manto’s Kali Shalwar also reflects marginalized prostitutes who face socio-economic constraints when they become migrants and move to big cities where there is strong competition. The protagonist Sultana, who initially enjoys financial independence in Ambala through her services to European soldiers, emigrates to Delhi at the suggestion of her lover Khuda Baksh in order to have better opportunities there.
In their poetry “Mother English”Savitribai Phule sees English as a source of emancipation for socially marginalized people. Although she writes about Shudras, Atishudras and women whose teaching of English harms the upper castes and their hegemony over languages like Sanskrit and Persian. The essence of this poem can be extended to marginalized prostitutes who, like Manto’s fictional character Sultana, are in economic difficulty.
In this way, this reflection on English as a medium of emancipation and freedom challenges the dominant narratives surrounding the languages of privileged populations, such as Sanskrit and Persian, which had lost their importance to the colonial language of English. English is still considered a colonial language, which also found its way into the Indian subcontinent when the British came to power. In the past, it was seen as a language that could counteract the centuries-old oppression of marginalized castes and genders.
When Kali Shalwar was published in Adab-e-Latif in 1941, people thought it was obscene. Ironically, people still find it unbearable to understand that the story tells the plight of a fictional character in a society that marginalizes people based on their identity and profession. Kali Shalwar was written in a society where marginalized people faced exploitation and suppression of their rights. Although it is necessary to understand history critically in order to trace the past and establish a connection to the present.
Nashra Rehman finds great interest in addressing the plight of Muslim women and their unnoticed marginalization. Your focus remains on bringing a novel argument to life.