[This piece was written in June 2023 just
before the Supreme Court judgement declining same-sex marriage rights was
pronounced. It was published in SACW (http://www.sacw.net/article15230.html)
and Countercurrents.org.]
Courtesy: Pravartak
Isssue No. 1 (2.12 - 15.12.91)
(This is Part II of the
long essay titled “Reminiscing ABVA’s Struggle for Gay Rights in the Twentieth
Century – A Brief History of That Time” I had penned in 2018 just before the
Supreme Court judgement legalizing adult consensual homosexual acts in private.
That essay is available here
& here.)
On
22nd November 1991, ABVA (AIDS Bhedbhav Virodhi Andolan/ AIDS
Anti-Discrimination Movement) released ‘Less
than Gay’ – A citizens’ report on the status of homosexuality in India. It
was co-authored by seven ABVA members. Publication of one thousand copies of
this report was done at a total cost of Rs. 11,000/- only (approximately US $
135/- in all!). This report listed a sixteen point Charter of Demands which
included inter-alia:
“Amend
the Special Marriages Act to allow for marriages between people of the same sex
(or between people who may be inter-sexed, or have undergone sex-change
surgery, and any others). All consequential legal benefits of marriage should
extend to gay marriages as well, including the right to adopt children, to
execute a partner’s will, to inherit, etc. Same-sex couples should also be
entitled to the legal benefits that accrue to their heterosexual counterparts
of common law marriages.
No
presumption as to fitness or unfitness for custody of a child or visitation
rights shall arise based on sexual orientation of either parent in such a
situation.
Alternatively,
legally recognize and encourage friendship agreements between single people of
the same sex as a valid way of organizing family life.”
About
25 journalists attended the press conference at the Press Club of India, New
Delhi. The coverage in the national and international press was fair with a few
corporate newspapers even front paging the news. We have reproduced the
coverage in the ‘The Telegraph’ issue
dated 23 November 1991; this daily paper reported that ABVA had written to the
Petitions Committee of Parliament for implementation of the demands. See facsimile
above.
While
researching for ‘Less than Gay’
we relied on real life case histories as narrated to ABVA members by the
victims. Just one such case history is being reproduced below:
“Till Death Do Us Part
“We
met nearly ten years ago. She was working as our acting hostel warden while I
was training as a paramedic in a medical college hospital in Delhi. Initially,
she was affectionate towards me and would often call me to her room after the
day’s work was over. I was about ten years her junior. I had heard that she was
lesbian and had had a steady girlfriend who had since left her. She stood out
from the others because of her “male” appearance – jeans, short haircut and
mannerisms.
“I
developed a liking for her and we eventually became good friends. At her
suggestion I started to cook meals for both of us in her room itself. This
ensured us the privacy we badly wanted as we did not now have to go to the
hostel dining-room. She expected me to do the household work – room-making,
cooking, cleaning, and washing clothes for her. She would insist that I keep things
ready for her when she returned from her official work in the late evening
hours. I readily complied because we developed mutual love. She would however
always boss around like the men do in our society. I was over-worked because as
a student I also had my studies to pursue.
“We
had developed physical intimacy in the form of kissing, petting, hugging,
breast-sucking, fingering, and cunnilingus. She would also attempt to have
penetrative sex with her erect clitoris. Our lovemaking would continue till she
got an orgasm. We would go out together for movies and dinner parties and make
love in the night. Sometimes we would smoke and drink alcohol. She would
however resent it if I as much as made attempts to be friendly to males in a
healthy way. She was very possessive of me.
“After
I graduated and started to look for a job, we decided to get married since we
could not live apart any longer. But would our family members, friends and
co-workers accept our decision? Would our relationship get social and legal sanction?
We were riddled with doubts and I lacked the confidence and courage to take
such a step. Yet we felt we should declare to each other that we were married.
One evening we went to a mandir and got the blessings of the deity. When we
returned to the hostel, she applied ‘sindhoor’ on my ‘mang’. It was the
happiest day for us. We never informed anyone else about our mutual pact.
“Things
went on well for a year. I got a job and became economically independent. One
day, on my return from work, I found her in a compromising posture with a young
girl in her room. She had been drinking liquor but was otherwise quite
conscious. When I protested, she rebuked me and turned me out of her room.
“From
then on, our relationship soured. I felt cheated. I even attempted suicide,
leaving a note written in my own blood to the effect that I loved her and she
had ditched me. I was unconscious for three days following the suicide attempt.
But I revived. My parents had to bribe the police to get the medico-legal case
“withdrawn.” Luckily, the press did not come to know of this incident. I left
my job to work in another set-up. My family members were very supportive and
that provided me with the strength to go on. The pain and agony of it will
always linger on in my memory.
“I
must add that every year there are at least three to four lesbians who can be
counted in the batch of freshers at my alma mater. I have suffered a great deal
but still have no answers to some crucial questions:
Why
can’t two girls get married? Why does society not recognize, support and
sanction lesbian relationships? A heterosexual relationship may also sour like
ours did. But there at least society is aware of marriage and break-ups. In our
case, the most traumatic thing is that the world is neither aware of our
“marriage” or of the end. I had to face the pain more or less by myself. Many
other women like me must have attempted suicide and even succumbed to such
attempts. How many more must undergo this trauma silently? And why?”
(The
writer adds: “I recently became aware of ABVA’s activities and read its two
documents “Women and AIDS” and “Blood of the Professionals”. I could muster up
the courage to write my experience because I know an ABVA member well and
respect the member’s involvement in voluntary work.)”
A
large number of quotes/stories from the media – both commercial as well as
alternate – were documented in our report. Just a very small selection of these
is being reproduced below:
“The Marriage of Lila and Urmila: A
Test Case
“In
December, 1987, policewomen Lila Namdeo and Urmila Srivastava of the 23rd
Battalion stationed in the outskirts of Bhopal, capped their year long
friendship by marrying each other. The wedding consisted of a simple ritual of
exchanging garlands, a gandharva vivah, conducted by a Brahmin in a Hindu
temple at Sagar. Their parents, who had consented to the wedding, were also
present at the ceremony.” (Trikone,
Mar. 1988)
These
constables became frontier women in the country’s social landscape with their
courageous unusual marriage. Their act provoked a sensational stir as the
nation struggled to grasp the implications of a public lesbian marriage. The
male psyche, with its belief about the power to penetrate and thus satisfy
women, was dealt a hard blow. Activist organizations, including most women’s
groups, remained tightlipped. Yet, how could lesbianism in India still be
denied? These women after all were not upper class, westernized women. They
belonged to a small town in Madhya Pradesh and chose to solemnize their
companionship. “Joda bana liya (they are now a couple)”, said one of their
colleagues. (TOI, Feb. 23, 1988)
Particularly
shameful was the hypocritical silence of the intellectual class on the human
rights of these women. Lila and Urmila were discharged without a show cause
notice. “We were kept in isolation and not given food for 48 hours. We were
coerced into signing papers which we had not read. We were given some cash and
our company commander, R.L. Amravanshi, accompanied by three havaldars deposited
us at the railway station in the dead of night. They warned us against
returning to the barracks.” (TOI,
ibid)
As
if these human rights violations were not enough, the two women were subjected
to a medical examination by Dr. B.K. Mukherjee, the Director-General of Police
(DGP), Madhya Pradesh. When questioned whether the women had “displayed any
lesbian tendencies,” the DGP responded: “No, this is absolutely false, we got
them checked medically and found nothing.” (Illustrated
Weekly, Mar. 20, ‘88)
What
exactly did Dr. Mukherjee hope to find? Do lesbian women grow something special
to mark their identity? Further, can such demeaning check-ups, under police and
medical authority, be considered ethical or legal?
The
bureaucratic response to the lesbian marriage was a curious mixture of denial
and hostility. R.L. Amravanshi, Commandant of the 23rd Battalion stated, “This
sort of behaviour will not be tolerated by us.” Narendra Virmani, Inspector
General of Police (IGP), in charge of Special Armed Forces, Madhya Pradesh
claimed, “Such women don’t make good officers.” Yet, he held, “that kind of
physical relationship that could be between a man and a woman or even in a
person with homosexual tendencies, that was absent here. There was not even
touching, kissing, nothing.” Once again, contradicting himself, the IGP said,
“this has never happened before ... it is the first time...” (Illustrated Weekly, ibid)
Did
they or did they not touch and kiss? How does the IGP know one way or another?
Is it any of his business to pronounce on such a private matter? How does being
lesbian in any way affect a woman’s performance as an officer of the Indian
Armed Forces?
It
is common knowledge that whatever happens between men and men, and women and
women, emotionally and sexually, regularly happens between men and women also.
Why then should gay marriages not be recognized as legally and socially valid?
Marriage offers social prestige and substantial legal benefits to citizens
allowed access to it. How then can some citizens but not others be allowed this
privilege? Is there any reason why gay marriage should not be permitted that
does not equally apply to a heterosexual couple that is physically incapable of
having children?
Further,
why should the definition of marriage be confined to the legal solemnization of
a sexual relationship? Shouldn’t friends not in a sexual relation to each other
be allowed to marry, with the legal consequences the status brings?
Isn’t
it time that jurists, civil rights organizations and women’s groups have a
public debate on these questions?
Friendship Agreements – A Humane
Solution
While
the government, bureaucracy and citizens’ groups have yet to say anything in
response to the above questions, two young village women from Baroda district
have shown the way by entering into a “maitri karar” or friendship agreement.
“The women, Aruna Sombhai Jaisinghbhai Gohil, 31, resident of Vadia village, of
Savli Taluka and Sudha Amarsinh Mohansinh Ratanwadia, 29, of Varsada village in
Naswadi taluka entered into the agreement before a notary public here.
“This
is the second maitri karar in Gujarat between two women. In a signed statement
at the city court, the two declared that they had known each other since 1978
when they were together at a teachers’ training school. Since then, they had
been working as teachers in different parts of Baroda district, and were now
based at Vadadhali village.
“During
all these years, the two women had been living together. Since they did not
wish to get married and wanted to continue living together, they decided to
enter into this friendship contract, the statement signed by them said.” (Indian Express, May 6, 1987)
Not So Lucky
Unfortunately,
not all women are as lucky as the two women from Gujarat in finding the social
support or economic independence to resist marriage with men. For instance, in
October 1988, two nurses of a local hospital in Meghraj (population: 10,000) in
north Gujarat committed suicide. “The reason: unable to bear the pangs of
impending separation, Gita Darji and her spinster friend, Kishori Shah, both
24, ended their lives by hanging themselves from a ceiling fan in the
hospital’s staff quarters. It was the third lesbian relationship to surface in
the state this year...
“When
the police began their probe they found a diary containing suicide note signed
by Kishori and Gita - in which they said they did not blame anybody for their
action - and two sets of letters. Close friends since they did a nursing course
together at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, the two stayed together at Meghraj
though they were allotted separate flats. In a letter to Gita, Kishori writes:
“I can’t live and sleep without you.” The letters also reveal that Gita’s
husband Manoj – whom she married last February – abhorred the relationship
between Gita and Kishori. Some months ago, he complained to her brother
Dashrathbhai, who made Gita apply for a transfer out of Meghraj.” (India Today, October 15, 1988)
Together, Always
The
following incident from Cochin was reported in Gay Scene (Nov-Dec 1980): “Mallika (20) and Lalitambika (20), both
students of pre-degree course of Keralavarma College, were very much in love
with each other. When the examination result came out, it was found that
Mallika had failed and Lalita passed. This was too much for the girls to bear,
for separation was inevitable. So they decided to commit suicide. On 29 June
they tied themselves together and jumped into the strong currents of Cochin
channel from a ferry but a sailor and a fisherman, somehow, managed to reach
them in time and were able to save them after a long fight in the surging
waters.
“The
police charged them with attempted suicide and found among other things a
letter and a greeting card. The front of the double-fold greeting card had a
silhouette of a kissing couple with the backdrop of a flaming sunset – inside
it had a note from Mallika: “Lali, After all everybody knows about our love, so
here’s a thousand kisses for you, in public...” Lalita scribbled back, “Come to
me, I shall take you in my arms. I shall cover you with kisses. You shall sleep
in my bosom and afterwards, maybe, we shall have a little quarrel.”
“The
letter dated 27 June was meant for the parents. Lalita wrote: “I cannot part
with Mallika ... now we are destined to go to different directions. I am not
persuaded by Mallika to do this ... bury us together.” It is reported that
relatives of the girls are still unable to grasp the implications of the
relationship. Mallika’s elder brother is reported to have said that the girls have
agreed to ‘try and forget each other.’”
The
same issue of Gay Scene reports
another incident: “on 30 November 1979, in Ahmedabad, unable to live in
separation after their marriage less than a year ago, two childhood friends,
Jyotsna and Jayashree ended their lives together jumping in front of a running
train. The police recovered the mutilated bodies of the two women near the
Gandhigram station. A joint letter by the two shows that they had entered into
a joint suicide pact.”
How
many more women coming from non-urban backgrounds have to die before Indian
society acknowledges the existence of lesbianism in every social and economic
strata and gives support to lesbian relationships as valid and healthy? Lesbian
women often get married before they become aware of the true nature of their
sexuality, some may marry in an effort to suppress it, and others marry for
reasons unrelated to their sexual orientation – from economic necessity or for
the social benefits brought by the appearance of married life. However, given
that so many women (and some men) are driven to suicide at the prospect of
marriage, and even after it, must we persist in peddling it as the only normal
way imaginable to humans of living and loving?”
Ground Conditions Ripe
for a Sexual Revolution!
Learning
through these case histories ABVA was compelled to raise the demand for
same-sex marriage as many same-sex couples all over the country were yearning
to get married/live as life partners or attempting to commit suicide in desperation
– some even successfully. ABVA found that the ‘conditions ripe for a revolution’
existed in the realm of sexuality and sexual orientation; the need was also to
construct an alternate way of organizing family life.
ABVA’s
learning was from the experiences of ordinary same sex couples who had dared to
do in the 1980s – in full public glare – what the intellectual class in India
feared to theorise and articulate in the 1980s and 1990s.
Same-sex Marriage
Demand Exported from Indian Soil to the Rest of the World
When
ABVA raised the demand for same-sex marriage in 1991, no country in the whole
world had legalized it either through the judiciary or parliament. It was only
about 10 years later that the first country on planet earth legalized same-sex
marriage! Yes, it was the Netherlands which had legalized it in 2001. The first
reported same-sex marriage took place in India in 1987! Many lesbian couples in
the absence of a legal framework entered into friendship agreements. To say
that same-sex marriage demand is a western concept is to deny our own rich
cultural and social diversity.
As Parliament
Stone-walls Debate, ABVA Again Reaches Out to Victims
In
the last 32 years we have been petitioning the Union Home Ministry; elected
members of Parliament; senior leaders of parliamentary parties and Speaker, Lok
Sabha. Why blame just the present dispensation at the Centre, the entire
spectrum of political parties maintain a deathly silence on the issue of
same-sex marriage. The debate in Parliament on gay and lesbian issues has been
stalled all along. So we again focused on what the victims were trying to
convey to society. Hence in 1999 ABVA undertook a fact finding on the reported
suicide pact of Mamata-Monalisa in Orissa, an eastern state of India. The two
members of this fact finding team were Jagdish Bhardwaje (now deceased); and
Arun Bhandari. Dr. P.S. Sahni joined the two in preparing the report titled ‘For People Like Us’.
A Glimpse of the Life
of Jagdish Bhardwaje: Sold his Blood for a Living!
ABVA
through 35 years of its existence has been a non-funded, non-party
organization. Jagdish Bhardwaje, had co-authored ‘Less than Gay’; as also ‘For
People Like Us’. He was very active in CALERI (Campaign for Lesbian Rights)
for the full year of its functioning and had contributed pieces for its Report ‘Lesbian Emergence’ too. Jagdish
Bhardwaje had documented his life story and struggle in a 1991 Report titled ‘Blood of the Professionals’ which can be
accessed here.
We
will let Jagdish Bhardwaje (see inset) speak for himself:
• In 1981, I had my first encounter with
life on the Pavement after my scientific instrument business flopped in an
attempt to diversify. Just as poverty knocked at the door, love flew out of the
window, as my marriage went to rocks with a legal divorce. I was too moved with
the subsequent turns in my life. I left home to move away from my surroundings
to gain mental solace, but as luck would have it, just before I could leave
Delhi, my home town, I had an attack of typhoid and hit the pavement. This life
was much in contrast to my ‘jet-set’ upbringing. It is here that I learnt to
laugh in pain. This society with its undercurrents had many painful miseries
that people accepted and lived contentedly with, compromising with their fate.
In pursuit of their existence, people practise many horrifying acts. The
Professional Blood Donating is just one of them.
• I have travelled as a professional
practically all over the country; donated blood in different banks, met
hundreds and thousands of donors, lived with them, and helped quite a few to
come out of this profession to join the mainstream. With what I have gathered
in a decade of my observations (1982 -1991), I am putting it briefly, as I feel
that the myths about professional blood donors be cleared, and the continued
treachery meted out to them in the name of scientific reasoning be exposed.
• The act of professional donating is
equated with prostitution openly by the establishment. The fact that their
blood has been responsible for bringing smiles into many homes where darkness
had loomed large, does not help them to gain any respectable acceptance. In an
interview with the ‘NEWSTRACK’ (April ’91) the former Director of National
Institute of Virology, Pune, Dr. M.P. Gupta states:
“The
professional blood donors are a wretched lot – wretched of the society. The
prostitute sells her body, these donors their blood.”
Again, Dr. Gupta, the Director of the
Red Cross Blood Bank, Delhi says:
“The
professional blood donors are the very dregs of society.” (H.T. - Sunday Magazine,
24.2.1985)
It
may be noted that complex surgeries have been possible due to the donors’
blood, or else many of the surgeons’ knives would have rusted with disuse.
• If the professional blood donors could
tell their tale of woes, even a stone would turn to cry. They brave their
misfortune stoically, till death comes to them to get them away from this
world. The nobility of their act of donating blood may be judged by God alone.
• We do frequent visits to various
Gurudwaras where we get free “LANGAR” (Community Meals) twice a day. Sewadars
do pass sarcastic comments on us that we don't do any “sewa” (Service) and just
eat free meals. But they don't realize that we can’t lift a sack full of
vegetables/ flour, as we are always fatigued. Many of us sleep at night
shelters or railway stations or even inter-state bus terminals or pavements,
where a regular space is kept reserved for us. One of us reaches back to this
place early in the evening and sees to it that no outsider occupies our usual
space on the corridor/ pavement. Jokes are cracked there at night. Deaths are
mourned. Happy events are celebrated.
• The fatigued conditions lead to an
overall exhaustion of the body; persistently donating blood under such
conditions gives physical disability that becomes permanent. The most common of
the problems being the cramps in the arms and legs. The arms become disabled
not only due to fatigue but due to repeated punctures in their peripheral veins
with blunt 17 number needles, broadly used all over the country. It is only as
an exception that disposable IV sets with finer needles are used. As a
consequence the eyesight is also affected. The donors’ memory gets affected due
to which in general they lose account of time and date, creating problems for
their own lives. High doses of iron lead to ulceration in their stomach/
intestines that draws them to their end. Heart failure due to low blood
pressure is another cause of death.
• It was on a biting cold morning at a
Blood Bank, after I came out with 14 pricks to bleed a bottle (each time the
blood would coagulate in the improvised I.V. set’s tube; three sets were
changed to get one bottle of blood) that the amount of humiliation I received
from the technicians had worn me out and that I was urged by the senior members
of the Rh negative group, to form a Union.
• For the first time a movement by the
blood donors of the capital to demand for a social status and voice other
grievances started off. The movement had started gaining tempo as the media came
to focus on the issue.
Jagdish
died in June 2007 with medical ailments like diabetes and chest tuberculosis.
He had no money to pay for his rented room in east Delhi. His landlord was
gracious enough to perform his last rites. His ashes were stored in an urn for
a long time in a locker at the crematorium. His family members in Delhi and in
Gujarat had distanced themselves from him. His domestic help conveyed the news
of his death to activists in Delhi and outside Delhi.
An
apt remembrance for Jagdish is by Ashwini Sukthankar in the ‘New Internationalist’ published on 5
October 2000:
“I have in front of me a citizens’ report on
the suicides of a lesbian couple in an Orissa village, brought out by Aids
Bhedbhav Virodhi Andolan, one of the Campaign’s constituent groups. Written by
two heterosexual men, the report is titled, touchingly, For People Like Us.”
It
of course refers to the two members of the fact finding team.
Again
Sandhya Luther had commented in ‘Lesbian
Emergence’:
“In
this hallowed land of silences where could the Indian Lesbian find a voice? The
seed of the Campaign for Lesbian Rights was sown when we were mobilising for
the protest: - a small, vocal, non-funded group we approached put forward a
startling condition for being participating. “If this protest is about
democratic rights you’ll find enough allies, but unless it is specifically
about lesbianism, we will not join”. It was startling because I was listening
to two men articulating this…”
The
two men alluded to are Jagdish Bhardwaje and Dr. P. S. Sahni!
The First Fact Finding
Report on Lesbian Suicides in India
ABVA
released the report ‘For People Like Us’
in 1999; extracts
from Hindi translation of this Report were reproduced in the report prepared by
CALERI titled ‘Lesbian Emergence’ in
the same year. The expenses for the Fact Finding Team’s Orissa visit were
around Rs. 3400/- only (approximately US $ 42/- in all!).
Why
the need for this fact finding report:
“Around
the end of last year (i.e. 1998) ABVA received a letter from an activist* named
X working in an NGO named Y* based in Cuttack, Orissa stating:
“Dear
Friend,
From
the book ‘Less than Gay’, I got your address. Whether this address still exists
or not I don’t know because the book was published in 1991and now it is 1998.
Still with a hope I am writing this letter and seeking your immediate
attention/intervention. This letter is meant to rescue a lesbian who is in
danger now.
Mamata
- Monalisa story came to lime-light when both attempted suicide. Aged 19 and 24
respectively they fell in love with each other five years back. They knew that
society would not accept their relation and afraid of this they filed an
affidavit before the court to live together and help all similar lesbians and
widows.
When
Monalisa’s father got transferred to another place far from their previous
place (Monalisa’s father is a Govt. employee) both became panicky. This
un-expected parting became intolerable to both and they tried to commit suicide
by consuming some poisonous substance. Also both cut their respective veins.
The incident happened at Mamata’s residence. Fortunately, Mamata was saved due
to immediate attention of family members but Monalisa died on way to hospital.
Mamata is now in Cuttack Medical College. She is under the treatment of doctors
of Female Medical Ward of S.C.B. Medical College, Cuttack, Orissa.
Now
local people are demanding the arrest of Mamata. As the incident happened at
Mamata’s residence the general opinion, including that of media, is that she
has killed Monalisa. From local media I got these facts and thought it better
to inform you.
My
interest - I am not a gay. But after reading ‘World of Homosexuals’ by Shakuntala
Devi and also ‘Less Than Gay’ I know it (homosexuality) is natural. Also I know
about gay/lesbian movement around the world.
Take
my support as a form of solidarity to your struggle.
Hope
you would take immediate steps to save her life.
Yours truly
Sd/-
Note:
*The identity is being concealed as in a subsequent letter he mentioned facing
difficulties in his NGO on account of our letters and telephone calls
pertaining to the Mamata-Monalisa case!
Meanwhile
The Humsafar Trust, a Bombay based NGO had flashed the message on the internet
and informed ABVA through a letter that:
“Lesbian
groups from USA and other countries are willing to help. We are also in touch
with Lawyer’s Collective, a Bombay based NGO, in case we can help Mamata get
legal aid. Can you help in following up this case?”
(Annexure -1)
ABVA
wrote to the activist X in Cuttack expressing shock at the tragic death of
Monalisa and the trauma inflicted on her friend Mamata. More details were asked
for. Besides we wanted to know what sort of intervention the families/friends
of Mamata and Monalisa wanted us to take in Delhi.
ABVA
also wrote to Mamata (this letter we learnt later was received by Mamata’s
family members; apparently Mamata is not aware of our letter) extending our
support and solidarity and assuring her that ABVA could pursue the matter with
the powers that be in Delhi. Since there was no response to our letters,
telephonic communication was established with the activist, as well as with
Mamata’s father from Delhi itself on 21.1.99. Much later Mamata’s father wrote
to ABVA:
“Thank
you for your sincere co-operation and understanding. My daughter Mamata and her
friend Monalisa were fast friends and thereby unable to withstand each other’s
separation. More over four days before (i.e.6.10.1998) the incident of suicidal
attempt, they sought the help of Court for a Notarial Certificate of
Partnership Deed for living together. On 10.10.1998 both of them left behind a
suicide note. The final result was death of Monalisa and rescue of Mamata. The
news had been published on 11.10.1998 and 12.10.1998 in Oriya dailies (SAMBAD,
SAMAYA). The first report is original and true; the latter is politicised and
false. Monalisa’s family filed an F.I.R. with the police charging Mamata with
murder under I.P.C. 302 and I.P.C. 306. The D.S.P. and Circle Inspector
(Cuttack Sadar) handled the matter to supervise the case and came to the conclusion
that it was a matter of normal suicide under Sec. 309 I.P.C. and is a bailable
offence.
Now
the case is under Crime Branch of Police. It is quite impossible for me at this
age and considering the mental trauma, to meet your noble organisation in
Delhi. For your information this is not a matter of homosexuality.”
Thanking
you,
Dt.
21.1.99 Yours
Sd/-
DHRUBA CHARAN MOHANTY
(Father
of Mamata)
We
reproduce below activist X’s belated reply dated 23.1.99 to ABVA stating:
“Actually
we two friends went to Mamata’s village last month to assess the situation.
Though we could not meet Mamata but we met Mamata’s parents and Monalisa’s
brother. Their suicide has created enemity between the two families. Monalisa’s
grandfather has filed the F.I.R. suspecting it as a murder case and local
police has investigated the matter.
Mamata’s
brother, Dilip Mohanty is Cuttack District Youth Congress President. Opposition
leaders allege that he has high level connections and is influencing the
investigating agencies. So now Crime Branch is enquiring into the issue - that
I am hearing. Mamata is now at SATAYU HEALTH HOME, Cuttack. When we tried to
meet her the authorities did not permit us. Rather we were told to come with a
permission letter from Dilip. We have heard that Dilip is not entertaining any
media people or solidarity groups because opposition parties has sufficiently maligned
his reputation. On learning this we did not contact Dilip. Only family members
are permitted to meet her.
We
took this incident seriously and wanted to write an article on it. This was our
purpose of visit.
As
Mamata’s brother is a political man we find it difficult to get space even to
express our solidarity. We fear how Mamata would be able to lead a stable; life
after release from HEALTH HOME. Police and neighbours may create problems for
her. In Orissa social organisations have not taken it seriously. Media has
highlighted the relationship as un-natural. People think of it as perverted.
My
phone number is of my office. So am facing difficulty when you are disclosing
the intention.”
Yours
Sd/-
X
On
24.12.98 ABVA had raised the issue at the weekly meeting of CALERI (a newly
formed Delhi-based group, Campaign for Lesbian Rights) and comprising of about
29 organisations as well as concerned citizens. An appeal was made suggesting
that some organisations should send a fact-finding team to Orissa. It is worth
mentioning that CALERI was formed in the wake of a public demonstration at
Regal Theatre, Connaught Place, New Delhi on 7.12.1998. The demonstration was
to protest against the violent attacks and acts of vandalism resorted to by
Shiv Sainiks (a right-wing outfit) in Bombay, Delhi and other parts of the
country. The Shiv Sainiks wanted a ban on the film, FIRE, which allegedly
hinted at a lesbian relationship.
Around
the time Mamata - Monalisa case came to light, the media front-paged the issue
of gang-rape of Anjana Mishra in Orissa. Some women’s groups held a public
demonstration at Orissa Bhawan in New Delhi to protest against this crime, but
there was a total silence on the Mamata -Monalisa case. Why this
discrimination?
The Politics of Discrimination
The
answer has been provided by CALERI. At its 25.2.1999 meeting it circulated the
actual, unedited version of Pastor Martin Niemoeller’s quote from the HOLOCAUST
currently widely used by trade unions, secular - liberal - democratic groups and
revolutionary organisations in a censored form:
“In
Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t
a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I
wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade-unionists, and I didn’t speak up
because I wasn’t a trade-unionist. Then they came for the homosexuals, and I didn’t
speak up because I wasn’t a homosexual. Then they came for the Catholics, and I
didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that
time no one was left to speak up.”
Count
the number of activists and organisations you know who have used the quotation
in a censored form in some politically correct article published in a
progressive magazine. It has been used in leaflets distributed by Marxist -
Leninist groups struggling for a structural change in society or for total
revolution.
The Politics of Silence
The
demonstration against the ban on FIRE brought the political hypocrisy of most
activist groups to the fore. Not surprisingly Shabana Azmi (a part-time
activist) and Nandita Das (a one-time activist) who played the lead roles in
FIRE refused to take a public stand in favour of lesbianism. Deepa Mehta, the
Director of the film – thankfully with no pretensions to being an activist –
publicly asserted that lesbianism is a distortion in society. While film
personalities like Dilip Kumar, Mahesh Bhatt and others petitioned the Supreme
Court for the film to be exhibited unhindered in movie theatres. M.Ps in
Parliament, too, voiced similar concerns. Yet there was deathly silence on the
issue of lesbianism itself by both the film personalities and the People’s
Representatives! Historians in the next century would not be able to figure out
what was the issue at stake in FIRE and the stand taken on it by Kuldip Nayar,
Shabana Azmi and other MPs even as they were passionately urging Parliament to
allow uninhibited screening of FIRE. Soli J. Sorabjee, the Attorney General of
India, appearing on behalf of Union of India is reported to have volunteered to
the Supreme Court that security would be provided to those film personalities
receiving threats from Shiv Sainiks. The Supreme Court chose not to take a
stand on the issue of lesbianism.
It is against this
background that ABVA decided to send a Fact Finding Team to Cuttack.”
The
fact finding team was able to access the legal documents got prepared by Mamata
and Monalisa through their legal counsel. We reproduce them in their entirety.
The
Report ‘For People Like Us’ carried a
Charter of Demands at its end:
“ABVA
urges the Indian Govt. to take cognizance of the following demands:
1. Institute
an Inquiry into the Mamata - Monalisa case and bring the facts before the
public through the National Commission for Women (NCW).
2. Provide
best medical treatment to Mamata at State expense. She needs to be airlifted to
AIIMS, New Delhi for Plastic Surgery/ Hand Surgery on her wounds around the
hand and wrist.
3. Withdraw
all cases against Mamata to put an end to her harassment at the hands of the
police.
4. Have
the Press Council of India issue guidelines for respectful and sensitive
reporting in cases where relationship of 2 people of the same sex are involved.
5. Legally
recognize and encourage friendship agreements between single people of the same
sex as a valid way of organizing family life.
6. Alternatively,
amend the Special Marriages Act to allow for marriages between people of the
same sex (or between people who may be inter-sexed, or have undergone
sex-change surgery, and any others). All consequential legal benefits of
marriage should extend to gay marriages as well, including the right to adopt
children, to execute a partner’s will, to inherit, etc. Same-sex couples should
also be entitled to the legal benefits that accrue to their heterosexual
counterparts of common law marriages.
No
presumption as to fitness or unfitness for custody of a child or visitation
rights shall arise based on sexual orientation of either parent in such a
situation.”
Campaign Gathers
Support
Barring
a few rare exceptions it was only ten years after ‘Less than Gay’ was released that authors and academicians
documented ABVA’s efforts for same-sex marriage in their works (books, academic
journals). SACW (South Asia Citizens Web) and Countercurrents.org have
consistently supported ABVA’s efforts for LGBTQIA rights including same-sex
marriage. SACW has a separate section on Sexuality Minorities. Countercurrents Collective published on
15.08.2020 “A
People’s Manifesto for Ecological Democracy” which included
the following inter alia:
“All
the laws that criminalise or discriminate against the LGBTQIA community should
be abolished. India should pass laws that allows marriage among same sex and
LGBTQIA communities.”
ABVA’s Campaign
Continues
·
ABVA has been consistently communicating
with elected members of Parliament; Petitions Committee of Parliament; Union
Health Minister; Union Health Ministry Officials; Opposition MPs every time
there was a change of Central Government. In fact before General and State
elections we had been sending requests to political parties to include Gay
Manifesto in their Election Manifesto. We have extended support to transgender aspirants
who have dared to fight elections.
·
The issue was raised in
a day-long public meeting organized by ABVA in 1992 at the Indian Social Institute,
New Delhi. The theme of the meeting was ‘Politics of Sexuality’. Deliberations
were held in a hall filled to capacity. A one-time heterosexually married woman
(and lesbian) – shared her experiences amongst others. Full audio tapes of the
meeting are available with ABVA.
· On 25 November 2022,
ABVA released the 2nd Edition of ‘Less than
Gay’ in which the Charter of Demands was
reiterated and sent a copy of the report to the Home Secretary, Govt. of India
for implementation of the Charter of Demands. Coincidentally the
day this 2nd edition was released also happened to be the day when
the Supreme Court heard the same-sex marriage petitions for the first time!
·
My interview with Namrata
Kolachalam, an American journalist based in Mumbai doing a radio piece for ‘The World’, was conducted through Zoom
on 23 December 2022.
My
philosophy all along has been that Parliament alone is the forum which could
legislate on same-sex marriage. ABVA has been petitioning the Parliament to
implement its Gay Manifesto since 1991 which includes the demand for same-sex
marriage. In the interview I (a lawyer by profession) had emphasized that the
“issue needs to be debated in the Parliament.”
During
hearings of the same-sex marriage petitions by a 5-judge constitution bench of
the Supreme Court of India, the Chief Justice has reportedly articulated that
Parliament alone can legislate on same-sex marriage!!
This echoes and is in consonance with my own views. Full interview is available
with ABVA Collective.
·
An article written by me and published in
Countercurrets.org on 14.01.2023 titled “Demand for Same-sex Marriage Pending
Since 1991 – Indian Parliament Continues to Stonewall the Debate” stated:
“After the 2018 judgement of the Supreme Court several
petitions were filed by same-sex couples in 2020-21 in various High Courts to
legalize same-sex marriage.
Meanwhile
Justice N. Anand Venkatesh of the Madras High Court is ensuring that the Union
government, State government as well as allied entities put in place the
systems required to ensure a dignified life for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual and others (LGBTQIA+) community. As a
result a series of interim orders have been issued by the judge. The State
Government has in December 2022 assured the court that a policy for protection
of the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community would be notified in three months. (The
Hindu, 09.11.2022)
It was only in April 2022, a Member
of Parliament Supriya Sule from Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) introduced a
private member’s Bill in Lok Sabha titled
“The
Special Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2022” to
amend the Special Marriage Act, 1954 to include same-sex
marriage. Another private member’s Bill titled
“The
LGBTQIA+ Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2022” was introduced by M.P. Dr.
DNV Senthilkumar from Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). Both these Bills introduced in the Parliament have not
been debated so far.
Meanwhile some couples in November
2022 have gone to the Supreme Court seeking legalization of same sex marriage.
Besides on 6 January 2023 the Supreme Court of India transferred to itself all
petitions on the issue of same-sex marriage pending in various High Courts. The
judicial process should start at the bottom rung of the judiciary for any
relief. The Supreme Court should have allowed the various High Courts to first
adjudicate on the issue. This would have ensured nationwide debate at the state
level judiciary, legislative assemblies, people and media. By transferring the
petitions to itself it has short-circuited the process and set a bad precedent
once again. Recall that when ABVA had filed the first petition for repeal of S.
377, IPC in 1994 it simultaneously urged all activist groups in India to flood
the various High Courts with similar petitions.
ABVA is of the opinion that this could convert a
broader political struggle to a narrow, legalistic framework. ABVA strongly
advocates a continuous, peaceful democratic struggle of like-minded
organisations and people for getting the Charter of Demands implemented. The
judiciary has a very limited role in this regard. The Indian Parliament should
be forced to debate all issues concerning the LGBTQIA+ community. So far
Parliament has resisted this move leaving it to the courts to adjudicate the
matter. Parliament should legislate on same-sex marriage before the Supreme
Court rules on the issue. This is the least atonement Parliament could do for
human rights of the LGBTQIA+ community in India.”
The full article is available here.
·
On 16.03.2023 as a last ditch attempt
ABVA wrote an open letter to the Speaker, Lok Sabha, Parliament of India Re. same-sex
marriage bringing to his notice that:
“In the case pending regarding same-sex marriage before the
Supreme Court of India the Solicitor General has urged the court to let
Parliament legislate on the issue – a long pending demand of LGBTQIA
community.”
The Speaker was requested to use his power to get a debate in
Parliament on this issue of urgent public importance.
·
On 30.03.2023 ABVA sent an appeal to
Member Countries of G-20 Summit 2023 in India impressing upon the hon’ble
members that:
“Under India’s Presidency
the G-20 Summit 2023 must resolve to get same-sex marriage legalised in each of
the 20 member states. Many of the G-20 countries have up to two decade old
record of allowing same-sex marriages introduced by legislation or through
court rulings. Their rich experience of 20 years could contribute to a healthy
discussion on the issue…
The
AIDS Bhedbhav Virodhi Andolan – based in New Delhi, India – which spearheaded
the gay rights movement since 1988-89 brought out this Citizens’ Report (‘Less than Gay’) which summed up ABVA’s
vision in the very first chapter ‘Why This Report’. Quote:
“… shouldn’t India be the focal point of a
world-wide gay movement in the future?”
ABVA
made the demand of same-sex marriage 12 years before any country in the G-20
group had legalised it! Canada did it in 2003-05.”…
In
a world facing economic recession, the act of legalizing same-sex marriage
worldwide would unleash forces favorable to the ‘pink economy’. In India the
LGBTQIA population is said to be 80 to 100 million and this could further boost
the fastest growing economy in the world – to wit India. Who knows that the
gains of the pink economy could be very significant even as raising of repo
rates by central banks globally have reached a stage where scheduled banks are
going bankrupt and inflation is still not under control and there is the added
burden of economic recession.”
·
On 27.04.2023 ABVA sent an open letter to
the Chief Justice of India and his companion judges stating:
“The organization ABVA (AIDS Bhedbhav
Virodhi Andolan) was formed in 1988-89 and has spearheaded the gay rights
movement in India since then. All our activities have been documented and can
be accessed at http://aidsbhedbhavvirodhiandolan.blogspot.com/….
Our experience of over three decades indicates that irrespective
of the party in power at the Centre there is no intention to address the
LGBTQIA issues.
So ABVA was forced to bring out another
document in 2021 titled “The Struggle Will Continue Till Parliament Debates –
Nay Concedes – The Gay Manifesto, 1991 New Delhi, India” which can be accessed here.
Through
this letter we wish to appeal to you that gay rights movement in India be not
ignored when the final judgement in the pending petitions is pronounced by the
Hon’ble Court.”
·
Again in May 2023 ABVA issued a press-release
titled “Same-sex marriage pleas in the Supreme Court of India: LGBTQIA
Community at the Crossroads” which was published in Countercurrents.org and SACW.
It cautioned that:
“a minor concession being
offered to the LGBTQIA community by way of welfarist steps. A government
committee would be constituted to address the issues which could at best
benefit a small section of the LGBTQIA community.”
ABVA
suggested that:
“The
Court having opened its mind on not granting same-sex marriage right, there is
a greater need now to build a powerful movement and occupy Parliament Street,
New Delhi to ensure the ‘Gay Manifesto’ to be debated and conceded by lawmakers
in the Parliament. Sacrifices will have to be made in a long drawn-out
struggle.”
Recent
Media Coverage
Covering
the same-sex marriage hearings, Ramya Maddali wrote in the magazine ‘Outlook’ on 29.04.2023:
“Beginning
with the AIDS Anti-Discrimination Movement filing the very first petition
seeking the decriminalisation of homosexuality to the clutch of petitions for
‘marriage equality’ currently being heard, the legal basis for “marriage
equality for all,” in the words of Sr Adv Jayna Kothari, has been paved in
steady increments.”
In the magazine ‘The Week’, June 2023 Ritcha George in an article titled “Pride
Month 2023: Events to Watch Out For In Indian Cities” wrote:
“Pride Month in India
The onset of the Pride movement in
India is associated with the discourse around Section 377 of the Indian Penal
Code, an antiquated impact of the British era that criminalised homosexuality.
The impact continued in spite of Independence and the implementation of Article
24 which promises equality to all. The first protest for gay rights in India
took place on August 11, 1992, outside police headquarters in Delhi’s ITO area.
The protests were led by AIDS Bhedbhav Virodhi Andolan (ABVA), in opposition to
the police who had arrested men from Central Park in Connaught Place on the
suspicion of homosexuality. Thereafter in 1994, ABVA filed a Public Interest
Litigation (PIL) challenging the constitutional validity of Section 377 of IPC
in the Delhi High Court and this is considered to be one of the first legal
protests against the government repression of the LGBTQIA+ community in India.
In 2014, transgender were
officially recognised as a “third gender,” and in 2017, the Supreme Court
recognized sexual orientation and was protected under the fundamental right to
privacy. After this, a revolutionary ruling struck down a colonial-era law and
decriminalised homosexuality in 2018. In 2022, the top court ruled that
unmarried or same-sex couples were entitled to welfare benefits. Furthermore,
in 2023 the Supreme Court is actively hearing petitions that seek to legally
validate same-sex marriages.”
Judges Dilemma: “To Be or Not to Be”
With the
overarching patriarchal, heterosexually oriented Indian State looking over its
shoulder has the Supreme Court bitten more than it can chew? It would have been
judicious if the Supreme Court had let the various High Courts in India – where
same-sex marriage petitions were pending – to adjudicate on the issue first. But
Chief Justice of India, as the master of the roster, was in an apparent hurry
to adjudicate on the issue. Otherwise it rarely happens that petitions come up for
final disposal before a specially constituted Constitution Bench within 6-7
months of filing of those petitions. Why is the alacrity
shown by the SC in listing the same-sex marriage petitions filed as recently as
November 2022 not shown for all the constitutional matters filed prior to it? Some
constitutional matters are pending in the Supreme Court for several decades. After
all the Supreme Court is the court of last resort and not the first.
In any case
the Supreme Court judgement on same-sex marriage pleas is expected to be pronounced
after the summer vacations. The Supreme Court in this round of litigation is
unlikely to grant the marriage equality in law sought for by the LGBTQIA
community.
ABVA
has been crying hoarse that it is for the Parliament to pass a law for same-sex
marriage. And unless there is a sustained, powerful movement on public streets
all over the country, Parliament would not oblige. A few LGBTQIA people have indeed
been getting ‘married’ all along even though without force of law but with a
measure of social sanction in some of these ‘marriages’.
The
awaited SC judgement, whatever it may be, will not bring any fundamental change
on the ground. In fact a declaration from the court will still need legislation
from Parliament to make even an iota of difference. Benefits – if offered – in
the form of pension, gratuity, provident fund; nomination for banks, insurance
cover etc will impact less than 10% of LGBTQIA community. A classist idea which
will divide the LGBTQIA community and break its unity for future struggles.
Indeed
a long journey but still miles to go!
Shobha Aggarwal
Member,
ABVA
(With
inputs from P.S. Sahni, co-founder member, ABVA.)
Blog:
http://aidsbhedbhavvirodhiandolan.blogspot.com/
Email:
aidsbhedbhavvirodhiandolan@gmail.com
