Heera Mandi: A Street Corner by the Mosque By Alina D December 2, 2011 Last week I visited Heera Mandi, Lahores

red light district, which is situated ri ght outside the Badshahi Masjid. Yes, ironic indeed. I didnt actually go because I wanted to, but let me give some background. As a true newcomer to the city, I had to visit the famous beautiful Masjid at least once Id been there twice before when I was younger, but its grandeur never ceases to amaze me. Per a friends suggestion, my husband and I went to Coocos Den right outside of the mosque, a beautiful intricately designed cafe that overlooks the Masjid. As we entered the cafe, I saw a pencilled drawing of a group of voluptuous women who h ad their backs turned and werent clothed from the waist up. It seemed an odd depi ction of typical Pakistani women, until I came to realize that it wasnt. The arti st (and owner of the cafe), Iqbal Hussain, grew up in Heera Mandi and created wo rks that showed the women he grew up around and was a child of prostitutes. As w e sat on the roof of the cafe, my husband indicated to a courtyard surrounded by buildings that used to be brothels, and may still be to this day. Built during the colonial era, the buildings were now locked up and shackled. They had a beck oning yet haunting beauty, as if guarding centuries worth of dark and hidden secr ets. Beyond the courtyard was the red light district, alive with lights, music, and p eople. I had read about Heera Mandi in the book Moth Smoke by Hohsin Hamid, so I had some idea of what that area was like. However, Ive been a sheltered kid most of my life. I grew up in northern California a pristine, sunny bubble with pict ure perfect beaches and mountains, and a culture rich with diversity that never takes itself too seriously. I wanted to see it for myself, to see what it was re ally like. Ill tell you what it was like. It was sickening. It was dangerous and disgusting. Trash was piled and rotting in the open, distil led sewerage clogged the pathways, and buildings were crumbling from decay. The police dont bother with regulating the area and if you report that you got mugged or harassed there, theyll turn on you and question why you even went there to be gin with. As we walked along the street, my husband pointed to a young man and t old me he was a pimp. My jaw dropped. He could have passed for anyone; he looked like he had walked out of Eid Namaz. He had a clean complexion, full black hair , wore a black Topee and was dressed in pressed white Shalwar Quameez with a for est green Dupatta draped evenly around his neck. He looked so fresh, yet so unas suming. He had one arm resting behind his back and was discreetly scanning those passing by, most likely for potential customers or girls to employ. We walked f urther along and from a distance I could see a group of women gathered on a roof top. One of the girls saw me and started waving. Assume any girl thats lingering on a balcony, doorway, or on a rooftop is a prosti tute, my husband instructed. It was a safe assumption to make. Unless you wanted to make some cash, there was no reason why any girl would be hanging around in the open in Heera Mandi. We t urned a corner, and I noticed two boys to my left. They seemed like normal twelv e or thirteen-year-olds, but when I looked closely I saw one of them was holding something to his mouth that hed flick to the ground. He walked with a self-assur ed swagger like he owned the place. He saw me gape at him and snickered, reveali ng his decaying teeth. He sauntered off, pointing back at me and laughing with h is buddy.

We walked up the road some more, the smells of spicy food mixed with the open se wage emanating around me. I felt someone watching me and looked up to meet the c old stare of a girl my age. She looked down at me from a balcony, her dark hair cropped and in disarray. She wore a jet blue kameez with her sleeves rolled up a nd gripped the railing, her arms spread out wide and posture leaning in. She wor e an expression of listlessness like shed been standing on that balcony every day of her life for the past twenty-some years. But what struck me most and sent ch ills down my spine was her gaze. Her eyes bore right through me and were complet ely empty. As I looked back at her, she continued to stare at me, her eyes pitch black. We walked further up the road and I saw an elder woman sitting on a stoo p in front of a building, her arms crossed and resting on her knees. Her hair wa s in a messy bun and her expression was tired and worn, yet her eyes were alert. She peered at me closely as I walked by her. The way she was guarding the build ing showed that she could have been a prostitute. As we made our way back to the main street to grab a taxi to head home, my husba nd showed me a park that was near the entrance of Heera Mandi. He told me that t his park was built by the main guy who ran the district the big pimp. He gave a lo t of money to local ministers and was friends with some of the politicians, too. Sometimes hes seen strolling in the park, flanked by two girls on his side. Its hard for me to write this, but its very real and exists right outside our door step. Whether weve strolled through the Badshahi Masjid or Qila before, or eaten delicious chicken karhai from Heera Mandi, were all connected to this in one way or the other and it needs to be talked about. Im sad that people here know about Heera Mandi but are immune to its sicknesses. No matter that this is a Muslim co untry that espouses Muslim ideals in its constitution. Too many misguided individu als are focusing on things like heathen Western ideals poisoning our region inst ead of attacking the real illnesses of our society Stuff like the economic system that makes young women and girls enter this profe ssion, and keeps them and their daughters in it because they have little way of getting out. If they leave, theyd have to face a very unwelcoming and judgmental public that would be reluctant to take them back into normal society. Stuff like thirteen-year-old kids smoking and doing drugs and no one accounting for them o r asking why theyre roaming the streets in broad daylight when they should be in school. Stuff like pimps scanning the streets for customers, asking them if they want to have some fun, or pick up some girls to bring in some dough for themselve s. Stuff like those very men giving funds to the government so they can be left alone. Stuff like orphans from the 2010 floods or the 2005 earthquake who are ki dnapped and then trafficked into sexual slavery and exploitation under the guise of getting adopted. Thats the stuff we should be decrying on talk shows and do s omething about, whether by making demands from our policy makers, supporting an NGO, or taking the initiative to start our own projects to end the cycles of abu se and exploitation ourselves. The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necessarily ref lect the views and policies of The Express Tribune. Source: The Express Tribune, Lahore URL: http://www.newageislam.com/NewAgeIslamIslamWomenAndFeminism_1.aspx?ArticleI D=6054

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COMMENTS 12/6/2011 8:47:09 PM satwa gunam @mirani,, That precisely what i was mentioning as an art of managing the contrad iction. If the Islamic state of Pakistan can tolerate Ahmediyas or Shias but can tolerate the practice of prostitution opening in the road end what does it talk about the society and its sincerity towards its belief. Nobody is blaming Islam for act of few but why does not the state at least like GCC have rules to say that is illegal and barred and it is not openly.

12/6/2011 6:47:00 AM Dilbar Mirani This is a dark part of our society which can never be linked with Islam. Islam ( great religion) is the religion of peace and gives equal rights to females and t he peoples of all kind of walk. It s totally up to the peoples to choose good or bad way, which is clearly defined in Holy Quran with punishments and rewards. U nfortunately, Good and bad peoples are part of this society. Islam cannot be blamed because of few bad peoples which are very few and may not be Muslims or they never follow Islamic Sharia. So, please don t point to Islam .

12/4/2011 11:12:06 AM satwa gunam Pakistan is great in having the religion as an art where they could manage these practices in an islamic country. They do the great thing like being the friend of taliban and protector of american interest. Great !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!

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