By Pawan Dhall
December 1 – World AIDS Day; December 2 – Bhopal gas tragedy; December 3 – International Day of People with Disability; December 6 – Babri Masjid demolition; December 10 – Human Rights Day; December 11 – Supreme Court verdict on Section 377, Indian Penal Code; December 16 – gang rape incident in Delhi . . . the last month of the year seems to be a good time for the Indian nation to introspect on its tryst with destiny that began in 1947.
If anything, the spate of panel discussions, seminars and conferences
in December (in fact, from November itself), in Kolkata and all over the
country, seems like a ‘mass babble’ of introspection on a plethora of social
causes. Points, counter-points, theories, heated and clever arguments jostle
with testimonials of discrimination, violence and survival, many heart-rending
and inspiring at the same time. Thank god for festive events like film festivals
and carnivals, which provide some relief from the unrelenting sombreness of
discussions and meetings, but then also add to the ‘noise’ around issues and
causes?
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| At the Section 377 public hearing (from left): Justice K. G. Balakrishnan; B. V. Ramanakumar, DIG Rayalseema, Andhra Pradesh; Swami Agnivesh; Manavendra Singh Gohil; advocate Anand Grover; and social activists Dr. Indumathi Ravi Shankar, Gurukiran Kamat and Laxmi Narayan Tripathi Photo credit: Pawan Dhall |
The intention is not to belittle any of the efforts. Varta
representatives had the opportunity to participate in two of these laudable
initiatives. The first was a seminar organized by the National Alliance of Women’s Organizations at the Academy of Fine Arts in Kolkata on December 10,
2014. Under the broad theme of looking at the status of gender equity in West
Bengal, the seminar facilitated a dialogue between queer activists and women’s
rights activists – to throw light on the nature of violence faced by queer
individuals, understand the common hetero-patriarchal roots of violence faced
by women, children and queer individuals, and act together in responding to the
violence. For instance, how often do queer support forums turn up to express
solidarity with women’s rights campaigns, or do women’s rights groups talk
about Section 377 as also ‘their’ concern?
A day later, India HIV/AIDS Alliance and its partner
agencies organized a public hearing on Section 377 in Delhi – to protest one
year of this archaic and draconian law being reinstated by the apex court of
the country. Seven queer individuals from across the country shared powerful
personal stories of how Section 377 impacted their lives in the last one year,
and apart from a few hundred people in the audience, they were heard by a number
of political and religious leaders, police and other government officials,
legal experts and human rights activists.
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| MP Oscar Fernandes (centre) with other participants at the public hearing on Section 377 |
The speeches of Members of Parliament Oscar Fernandes, Jesudasu
Seelam, Avinash Pande (Congress Party) and Dr. Dharamveer Gandhi (Aam Aadmi Party); K. E. Krishnamurthy, Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (Telugu Desam Party); Justice K. G. Balakrishnan, Chairperson, National Human Rights Commission; and Swami Agnivesh, politician, social activist and Arya Samaj
scholar were encouraging, even rousing. The MPs in particular raised hopes by
promising to bring up the matter of legislating against Section 377 in the
Parliament. But will these remain mere high decibel platitudes?
Which brings one back to the issue of ‘noise’. If it’s
introspection, don’t we need some peace and calm, a time-out from talk and more
talk? To think through what the ‘coincidence’ behind the motley mix of causes all
taking up December dates points at, just before the time for New Year
resolutions . . .
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