North Kolkata Puja committee dedicates street graffiti to sex workers

Kolkata: Ahiritola Jubak-brinda unveiled the world's first street graffiti dedicated to the work rights of sex workers on Monday, the auspicious day of Mahalaya.

The North Kolkata puja committee is depicting the theme Utsarito Alo this year, with an aim of giving back the dignity and acknowledgement the sex workers deserve and standing by the demands of their work rights.

A street graffiti about 300 feet in length has been drawn, portraying the immense contribution of this community and featuring their untold story which the society has always been ignorant of.

"We have seen many wall graffiti dedicated for the sex workers but a street graffiti as this is the first of its kind. The combined use of lively and gloomy colours has been made to illustrate the varied shades of the life of sex workers. The street painting vividly represents the journey of a sex worker in a timeline sequence," a Puja organiser said.

The grafitti begins with a door with three women's faces peeping from behind, to a distorted 'Kumkum Line' on a woman's forehead, signifying the tragedy of her fate- it depicts the touching story of this community with the palette of emotion and expertise.

"Since ages, our orthodox society has looked at the community of sex workers with a view of negligence. They also have a family which should get their right to live a life with love and dignity from people, instead of bearing their torture and hatred. We wanted to spread the awareness among people, highlighting the life of sex workers through this street graffiti and the Puja theme," said Uttam Saha, working president of Ahiritola Jubakbrinda.

He added that it is an endeavour to light the lamp of joy in their souls and enlighten the humanity in us, by supporting the movement of sex workers to get their labour force right and treating them with the dignity and respect they deserve.

Representatives from the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee- an organisation of 65,000 sex workers, added a special dimension to the event.