humanity

Delhi’s queer pride parade 2009 2

This entry was posted in humanity social on by (updated 5656 days ago)

Last year I had posted about the First ever Delhi queer pride parade event. This year they are back again! As always, the event is open to straight people as well.

For us as Delhi’s bloggers here’s what we can do:
1. Support Delhi’s LGBT people. From the moral police stopping the screening of films like “Fire” we come down to supporting LGBT’s in the open.
2. Blog about it and spread awareness about it.
3. This would be a very interesting photo-op in every sense, from the documentation of this event to photographing it artistically, what with rainbow coloured masks.

A similar march will take place in Kolkata Sunday and in Sri Lanka too.

The agenda as mentioned on their blog is here:

We assemble at Barakhamaba Road at 5 pm and the march will start at 5.30 pm. We should reach Jantar Mantar at around 7.30 pm – where we have organised some space for people to come up and say a few words or sing or shout slogans! Everyone is welcome!

Why Queer pride parade?

Today in India, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people face violence and discrimination from different quarters. Here are some examples of our daily oppression:

· Lesbians are subject to violence, forced into marriage and even driven to commit suicide by their families.

· Gay men are blackmailed by organized scandals that often involve the police.

· Hijras are routinely arrested and raped by the police.

· Same sex couples who have lived together for years cannot buy a house together or will their property to each other or even adopt a child as a couple if they wish.

· LGBTI people are constantly mocked, demeaned and denied their basic human rights of self-expression.

All this is happening because Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code treats LGBTI people as criminals. It has been used to arrest, prosecute, terrorize and blackmail sexual minorities. It has strengthened the already existing stereotypes, hatred and abuse in homes, schools, workplaces and streets, forcing millions of LGBTI people to live in fear and silence at tragic cost to themselves and their families. And yet, these lives go on. They go on as a struggle every single day.


It is essential that –

· Section 377 is duly read down in the Delhi High Court and this precedent replicated across the country.

· The government introduce specific legislation protecting queer people from discrimination on the basis of their gender and sexuality.

· Violence against LGBTI people by the police be addressed and severely reprehended.

· Discrimination and violence against LGBTI people in all spheres of life (family, workplace, educational institutions) be acknowledged and addressed.

· Positive efforts, such as the Aravani Welfare Board set up by the Tamil Nadu Government for the hijra community, are replicated in other parts of the country.

· All persons are able to exercise their right to live their lives with dignity and freedom, regardless of their gender and sexuality identities.

For more details, visit http://delhiqueerpride.blogspot.com


Bombay apocalypse

This entry was posted in humanity on by (updated 3618 days ago)

Bombay apocalypse?

Bombay seems to have been hit really bad due to the rains, fire, landslides and what not. It’s a wonder how the same elements – water, fire, earth – give us life and can engulf us at the same time. Hope the city recovers fast. With no TV/radio access (to Indian news), all I have here, is the internet for updates. There are some heart wrenching tales out there. Frantic people have used rediff’s space for help in getting in touch with their friends/family or pouring out their woes against the city’s infrastructure. With animals dying because they were still tied when their owners fled, to seeing bloated carcasses, Bombay is full of tales of children stuck in their schools, employees stuck in their offices or on the streets and frantic parents/relatives worrying themselves sick. Thankfully my sister was already in Delhi, on an impulse visit from Bombay when all this happened.

My own experience with some torrential rains in Delhi, is a “walk in the park“, compared to what an average bombayite is going through.


The Tsunami within

This entry was posted in humanity on by (updated 6281 days ago)

With a disaster of the scale of tsunami, new aspects of tragedy are being exposed. While some people are going out of their way to help victims, some have stooped to the inhumane level of selling the dead bodies to relatives, in return for dollars!! One would think that at a time like this, tragedy unites people. But I dont have words for this kind of a thing.

New problems are cropping up each day. Things like child trafficking are expected to reach an all time high. Due to this the government has stopped adoption of tsunami orphans. There are also reports of dogs turning into maneaters and attacking people. It really is the survival of the fittest.

Besides this, I dont understand just how someone can name new born babies after a disaster! Till date I used to think that the worst name possible in this world would be ‘Osama Bin Laden”. This name has been replaced by ‘Tsunami’. Just how in the world can parents or ‘lucky-to-be-alive-relatives’ think of naming a child as something which continuously reminds them of their sorrow! AFA the child is concerned, the baby has already been doomed since birth with a name like that.

But what can one say about the “brand name” that Tsunami is now becoming. Right from Tsunami matches to Tsunami sales, Tsunami concerts and what not. Everything seems to have the Tsunami tag with it. With the kind of corruption witnessed in the relief process, I surely hope that the organisers of such things are honest and the participants in such events who think they are doing a good turn to the mankind are not let down.

There’s a big setback to the nations hit by the Tsunami and it would take a long time rehabilitating. On the other hand, the Tsunami disaster has had some benefits, ironically. There were some reports of how the states struck by the Tsunami are now richer by crores because of the huge titanium deposits which have landed from the ocean floor onto the beaches. Titanium is one of the rarest and costliest element used in hi-tech things like aircrafts, rockets, cellphones etc.
Another trend, kind of similar to ‘the survival of the fittest’, was seen recently. It can be expected that the huge monetary funds in Tsunami relief would not reach the right recipients. Corruption is one taker. The other one is the common man. There would be many ppl who have not been affected by the Tsunami at all, and would have lost nothing. But they would be there to take help from the relief rich states. In fact they might be getting more than they ever had. A shelter, food, clothes, some belongings! Reports in papers mention that beggars from Karnataka have gone over to TamilNadu to the Tsunami struck areas, to cash in on the benefit. Nature has its way of taking food from one mouth and putting it in another.