Why Bihar sex workers’ kids publish a handwritten magazine

Children of sex workers run a handwritten magazine called ‘Jugnu’ at Chaturbhuj Sthan, a red-light area in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur districtThe quarterly is written by hand, published and distributed by the childrenWhen it was launched, ‘Jugnu’ had only six pages and an offer price of Rs 5. Now it has 36 pages and is priced at Rs 50Among other places, a copy of the magazine can be found at Delhi University’s libraryNaseema Khatoon, who started the magazine, was recently nominated as a member of the National Human Rights Commission advisory groupBarely 10 years old, Naseema Khatoon was livid with the vernacular press. In 1995, she went with her two friends to attend a government handicraft workshop at Patna. But instead of writing about their crocheting craft, the local newspaper had their photographs with the headline, “Sex workers attend district administration’s workshop”. Humiliated, little Nassema decided to take her revenge and a decade later, she started a handwritten magazine called Jugnu— a hand-written magazine for the deprived.Naseema is the daughter of a sex worker and lives in the dark and dingy lanes of Chaturbhuj Sthan in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district, one of the eight biggest red light areas of the country. “We were very angry at that time,” she recalls. “I live here. Does that mean, I’m a sex worker? It was very painful. That’s when I decided that something had to be done,” she says.Chaturbhuj Sthan is said to have existed since the Mughal period. It got its name from a temple located there. It is home to more than 3,500 sex workers. A February 2014 report by the Ministry of Women and Child Development puts the total number of sex workers in India at 2.8 million, of which 36% are children.It was 2004 when Naseema drew up the cover page of the magazine. The hand-written quarterly was written, published and distributed by the children of sex workers. When it was launched, it had only six pages and had an offer price of Rs 5. Years later, the magazine now has 36 pages and is priced at Rs 50.The children, both boys and girls, brought out pieces of paper and poured their heart on it. They would write their feelings, experiences and challenges. “Once a dowry case came up in the area. A woman had stealthily married off her daughter into a different caste. The girl’s in-laws’ saw this as a chance to blackmail and demand dowry from the woman. One day we got to know that the girl had been murdered. Jugnu’s reporters wrote an article on this. When a court case was filed, the article helped the woman get justice,” says Naseema. Initially, the cub reporters of Chaturbhuj Sthan concealed their identity and hesitated to meet government officials. Now, their confidence has grown. They are usual visitors to the district administration’s office. Its reporters Mohammad Arif and Sabina Khatoon were full of glee having recently met the Muzaffarpur DM to present to him the new edition of Jugnu. Mohammad Arif joined the magazine when he could do nothing more than draw. Now, he is studying B Com from Bihar University and writes on the red light area, child labour and lives of old age sex workers. He also trains other small children of the area to work as reporters. But he has to deal with the anxiety and apprehensions of their mothers. He says he has to convince them that the place he is taking them to has nothing to do with sex trade. The popularity of Jugnu can be underlined from the fact that it is now distributed not only in Bihar but is also being supplied to Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra. Initially, all the content was written by local reporters, but now some 20 percent of the content is offered by outside contributors. Megha Chhari who works as a magazine reporter in Murena, Madhya Pradesh, says she got a new identity when she joined Jugnu. She belongs to the Bedia community, known for sex trade, but moved away from the profession and started studying. She did her graduation in Sociology and is now pursuing an MSW course in Criminology from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai. Jugnu is now reaching out to children of other marginalised communities as well. Savita Kalbeliya works as a reporter for the magazine. She belongs to the tribe of snake charmers of Barmer in Rajasthan. People of her community usually don’t move out of their homes due to social restrictions. Her father, Rekhanath, is happy that her daughter is the only girl in the community to have gone out to work.Naseema’s effort has brought a significant change in red light areas. A good number of children are turning towards education. Charitable organisations have joined hands with Jugnu to ensure that the exclusive magazine continues, and flourishes. There’s growing demand for this hand-written magazine. Recently, the editor was pleasantly surprised when a Delhi University official called her up and asked her to send the magazine for its library.Naseema was recently nominated as a member of the National Human Rights Commission advisory group. The magazine has armed the people of red light areas with information about their constitutional rights, while the younger generation has developed a flair for writing. Just like its name, Jugnu has come a spark to dispel darkness from the lives of sex workers.Script by: Sonalika SinhaAnchor: Surjan SinghAudio production: Sahil GuptaNote: The podcast was recorded on Dec 2, 2022