• Shruti

Muzaffarpur is a city in India’s eastern state Bihar. Situated in Bihar’s Tirhut division, the city was founded in the eighteenth century under British Raj. Muzaffarpūr’s red light area is known as Chaturbhuj Sthan (Chaturbhuj Sthān), after a famous Vishnu temple situated in midst of the locality. About a kilometre-long road houses over 3500 sex workers in Chaturbhuj Sthān. Despite several efforts during the late twentieth century to advance the conditions of residents of Chaturbhuj Sthān, the plight of sex workers remained mostly neglected as they continue to be stigmatised and viewed as either trafficked victims or moral criminals. They struggle for justified treatment in society against all biases set against them. Amidst all this, a social activist from Chaturbhuj Sthan, Nasima Khatoon, who proudly wears the badge of being ‘the daughter of a sex worker,’ took an initiative by starting a handwritten Newsletter in the interest of sex workers. This paper attempts to present the views and aspirations of the residents of Chaturbhuj Sthān via their writings published in Jugṉū. The paper also covers some elements of interview conducted with Ms. Nasīma Khatūn and analyses seven different editions of the Jugṉū that were published between 2005 to 2022.

Jugṉū, Nasima Khatoon, Muzaffarpur, Chaturbhuj Sthan, Sex Work

"A Socio-Cultural Study of Jugnu: A Newsletter from the Red-Light Area of Muzaffarpur", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.11, Issue 8, page no.c585-c599, August-2024, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2408277.pdf

"A Socio-Cultural Study of Jugnu: A Newsletter from the Red-Light Area of Muzaffarpur", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.11, Issue 8, page no. ppc585-c599, August-2024, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2408277.pdf