THE DYSTOPIAN SUBCULTURE

Today, the bazaar is the hub of Lahori cuisine, restaurants, food stalls, and streets scattered with shops offering a wide range of khussas (traditional Mughal footwear), as well as musical instruments. One of the many acclaimed restaurants is Cuckoo’s Den. It was once a brothel – today, however, it is run by a renowned artist, who is the son of one of the prostitutes. Cuckoo’s Den caters to the tourists and gentry of the greater Lahore. However, as night embraces, and the ‘respectable citizen’ secure themselves in the premises of their homes, the streets are only again enlivened by young and old men alike, looking for sex.

Pran Neville wrote of the joys of the pleasure-seekers paradise – patronized by the young and old, it “came to life at night with its reverberating sounds and glittering sights when fun-loving Lahoris would flock to it for entertainment” (Nevile 1993).

In Pakistan, while the constitution declares prostitution as illegal, the trade of ‘sinners and diamonds in the dark’ occurs under the guise of dancing lessons or performances that customers purchase before entering. This subculture of the Walled City is marginalizing a subaltern group of women who are an integral part of the community. The people and authorities conveniently pretend it doesn’t exist. Closing eyes to the cruelty these diamonds experience doesn’t inhibit the frowned-upon trade of prostitution. It merely allows these helpless women to be abused by the pimps, clients, government, and society in general. They are labeled as lesser women and, subsequently, the lowest form of beings.