The bias against queer community in the media and police was glaringly visible during the recent raid on a Pub in Hyderabad, writes Chanakya
The greatest social evil of all time is prejudice. I can completely relate to this because my very existence and lifestyle is threatened by a few prejudices people have. The queer community time and again has strived to assert its basic human rights in India, but alas! We seem to be falling into an abyssal pit with no end in sight.
The recent raid on a pub in Hyderabad is just another shameful incident which has gained prominence due to its magnitude, over minor breaches of human rights we go through each day.
Should I be blaming the police, the media, or the society as a whole for this inhuman intolerance? Well.. I do not know. Maybe the police were well within their rights to raid the place as it did not have a license. Did they, however, have the right to condemn the entire crowd due to their personal homophobia? Isn’t the police custodian of Indian laws? If people with such authority and responsibility are insensitive to a cause as basic as human rights, what else should we expect?
The queer community is vulnerable, but then again, may be the police authorities didn’t know that. Can ignorance be an excuse? Secondly, the media. Thanks to the media, queer community of Hyderabad is now a wild, sexually perverted, desperate bunch of people who try to propagate their “disease” to others! Welcome to the dark age of the 21st century!
Is there no amount of social responsibility of the media which could have restrained it from degrading to such an extent for TRP? Five more pubs were raided that night. Which ones? Well, you wouldn’t know because all eyes were on the community- on how these groups of deviants are shameful to society and Indian culture.
My only humble question- ‘Do only members of the community party, booze and hook up? Do people in straight pubs come together to conduct prayer meetings or solemnize ceremonies?’ Do not attribute immorality to a community. We are also part of this modernized and globalised society and are in sync with the trends of the time. If partying is wrong, ban it as a whole. But if you try to tell me that queer parties are bad, your bias is just absurd!
I do not wish to ask for support as I am tired of defeat. Have tolerance! You don’t even have to care, but just let us be!
- Know Your Basic Rights - November 21, 2013
- Just Let Us Be! - November 19, 2013
- Hyderabad Queer Pride 2013 - April 9, 2013