There is a strong case for rescuing minor girls who have been trafficked for the sex trade. But when it comes to dealing with adults who choose to take up the trade volitionally then moral policing is the last thing this society needs. Prostitution in this country is illegal although the trade flourishes and there are areas designated for it such as Sonargachi in West Bengal and such other Red Light areas in Mumbai and elsewhere. That the police are in collusion is no secret. When they raid these places from time to time it is only because they want to hike up their ‘hafta.’ In Meghalaya’s capital of Shillong, prostitution thrives in some hotels. Or to put it the other way round, the hotels thrive on prostitution. To say that the law keepers are unaware of such shady activities is to be naive. But prostitution is a trade that harms only one person – the woman who is trading her flesh. Of course in the present scenario unsafe sex could also spread sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS. But that again remains a choice that the client soliciting the services of the woman has to make.
What happened in Tura, Garo Hills is a clear case of moral policing taking a violent turn. How can so-called NGOs forcefully abduct, torture and traumatise the very people they profess to have rescued from the flesh trade? That all those who physically attacked the commercial sex workers are themselves women is a slur on activism. Activists are not authorised to take the law into their own hands. At best they can collaborate with the law enforcing agencies and the district administration in tracking down the sex workers. But even here there is such a thing as “free will” and the right to livelihood. If the women caught in action are earning their keep through this trade what right has anyone to stop it without offering the person alternative employment? There is a lot of protest against the ruling of the National Green Tribunal against rat-hole mining on the plea that people would lose their livelihoods. So isn’t commercial sex a livelihood for some? Who is anyone to sit in judgement? Prostitution is the last option for any woman. It means that there is abject poverty and no other decent means of livelihood available for this oppressed section. This is a cause of concern for the Government. Moral lessons are the last thing that people on an empty stomach need. And certainly the women’s vigilante groups need to be booked under appropriate sections of the law. The Taliban like actions of the vigilante organisations cannot be condoned under any circumstances.