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Journalism of Courage
MUMBAI, June 26: Unlike crusaders of history books, former deputy Municipal commissioner G R Khairnar has been facing brickbats for his "special campaign" of saving underage prostitutes from the city’s red-light areas in the last three weeks.
“The attacks is not going to discourage me in any way. The campaign will be further intensified,” Khairnar told Newsline today.
In his first brush with violence as response to his rescue mission, on the night of June 14 Khairnar was chased to Delhi Darbar by sex-workers, gharwalis and pimps in Falkland Road before being roughed up.
As if all this was not enough, the sex-workers then marched to V P Marg police station protesting against Khairnar’s role as a saviour. Even as the girls were seeking help from the police to prevent him from entering the brothels, some pulled off their clothes in the presence of the police officers to highlight their plight.
“We told the police that they can have us but save us from Khairnar and the regular hafta’ we have to cough up for carrying on the business for survival,” said Sita, who joined the protest on June 14.
According to inspector Shamsherkhan Pathan of Nagpada police station, Khairnar was again beaten up on June 22 when he was raiding bungalow N0 58 at Kamathipura with some assistants. Though he rescued eight girls, only three were willing to accompany him. Three gharwalis have been arrested, confirmed Pathan.
The police official stated that the untoward incident was a fallout of Khairnar’s independent raids on the brothels. He has been carrying on the raids without the necessary permission of an officer above the rank of an assistant commissioner of police. The police force is always ready to help him in his efforts, said Pathan. “The police too have been raiding four brothels each night and six to eight girls are rescued each week,” Pathan pointed out.
However, a section of the prostitutes believe that Khairnar has been carrying out raids on the brothels to gain publicity after he was suspended from his job with the BMC. He is raiding the brothels and rescuing girls when he does not have a concrete plan to rehabilitate them, prostitutes pointed out.
“In most the family members disown us. The girls usually find themselves languishing in some sub-human shelter homes, ” says Asha Temang of Falkland Road.
According to another sex-worker, the number of visitors to the brothels has come down to half and there is not enough income. Khairnar has made matters worse. The raids have scared away customers and the sex-workers as well, she added.
