‘You are Gay, That’s ok’

The 3rd edition of Delhi Gay Pride Parade took place on Sunday, November 28. The parade started from Barakhambha Road and ended at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. Nearly thousand people from every walk of the society joined the parade to show their support for gay community. Participants were wearing colourful masks, waving flags, blowing bugle, dancing on beats of dholak. The parade was displaying some kind of festive mood. Sushma, a gay, enthralled by the parade says “I have come here to celebrate my aazadi [freedom] with pride.”

3rd Delhi Queer Pride Parade on 28th November 2010. The parade started from Barakhambha Road and ended at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.

Many gays were supported by their family members. (Sambandh)  Sambhav was one such fortunate gay who was accompanied by her grandmother, mother, younger sister and younger brother. He says “Society should understand that it’s high time, they should realise that society should not be discriminating on the basis of their sexual orientation.” (Sambandh)  Sambhav faced hard time for being a homosexual but he preferred to tell the reality to his family rather than succumbing to the fear and pressure of society. “I wanted to be honest with my family; these are the faces that I will see till my death. So I didn’t want to lie on their face.”

Sambhav(left-most), a gay, accompanied by his family in gay parade

His 70-year old grandmother, who was cheered by the crowd as a hero, proudly says “I am supporting him for his right to live with equality and freedom. Every child should be loved whether he is a gay or not”.

A lot of people came in parade to support their gay friends. Mrinalini Sharma, 22, arts student says “I am straight but I am not narrow-minded, I have come here for supporting my gay friend.”

Parade was joined not only by gays but by their family members, friends and others who came out to show their solidarity for gay rights. People were raising slogans like “Hindu Muslim Sikh Ishai… homosexuals bhai bhai [Whether Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christian; homosexuals are brothers] and you are Gay, that’s ok”. Mrinalini Sharma, 22, arts student says “I am straight but I am not narrow-minded, I have come here for supporting my gay friend.”

Not only Indians but even many foreigners were present in parade. Sgoerd Kok, 57, a Dutch national says “such large crowd deeply reflects that things are changing in positive direction.”

Bharat, a gay, describes the parade as a success, “In first gay parade, I came here with mask and cried wondering when they [society] will accept us. Second year, I came without a mask but this year I am really happy to see thousands of people have came here to support us.”

But everyone is not fortunate like Sambandh. Dev, a gay, describes his misery “I was doing a job but when I revealed my sexual orientation, they fired me.” In India, homosexuality is often considered a taboo. People don`t welcome debates and talks about gay rights in open. Due to the fear of being ostracised by the society, many homosexuals don`t accept this reality and they get married and that results in failed marriage. Dev adds “If under the pressure of society, I am made to marry a girl and she comes to know about this after the marriage. Then I will be destroying two lives, hers and mine. Instead of all this, I would love to stay single as a gay.” Gautam Bhan, a writer and Social activist for gay rights says “There is rampant discrimination still prevalent in many parts of India, especially in down (southern India), there are many cases of lesbian suicides and gay violence.”

On 2 July 2009, Delhi High Court amended the Section 377 of Indian Penal Code and decriminalised the consensual sex among adult homosexuals. The plea was filed by NAZ Foundation saying that criminalising homosexuality [according to then section 377] is against the fundamental constitutional rights of living with freedom and equality of homosexuals. “It’s only a year now after the amendment of section 377, but there has been a huge change” says Hillol Dutta, a transgender. But Gautam Bhan thinks “With change in law alone, you cannot change the opinions of society. A lot of awareness about Gay rights has to be done. We should make sure that our future queer generation lives in a safe environment and they do not suffer like our present generation has suffered.”

Parade organisers stated “Last year’s edition was more of a protest, but this time it’s about celebration. As last time parade happened before the court judgement came.” People are hopeful that things will change and queer community will be accepted in Indian society.

Hillol Dutta says “It will take some time but these parades will definitely put a lot of confidence in the queer community, not only in Delhi but in whole India.”

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Special Thanks to Priyanka Kumari for her Photos

Pakistani Traders : ‘unhappy with Indian govt’ but ‘happy with Indian people’

Pakistan has sent the biggest contingent of exhibitors in trade fair but they are not too happy with the facilities provided by Indian Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), Indian government and most importantly with less trade this time. “We were not treated fairly by customs, our stock got customs clearance only after three days of fair start. Humse bilkul Pakistan wala saluk kiya gaya [we were treated like pakistan]” says Tahir Mahmood, 37 year old Onyx stone antiques seller from Karachi.

Tahir Mahmood is a spynx antiques seller from Karachi, Pakistan

He further adds “The business is down this time, only small items are getting sold, costlier items are not in demand. I don`t think I will be able to earn even my expenses and may be when the fair ends we have to pack our stock and take it back to Pakistan ”

Shahid Khan, from Karachi, is owner of Al-Haaj Bundoo Khan. Selling kebabs, paranthas, halwa and Chicken tikas is his family business running to his present fourth generation. He says “I faced alot of difficulties this time, ITPO didn`t gave us good facilities. We were made to run for Trade Licenses and Police NOC. I was able to put my stall only after six days of fair opening. They [Indian government & ITPO] should understand that we are their guests and make sure that we don`t face any difficulties”.

Despite of all these hard experiences, all exhibitors from across the border acknowledge the love and affection they are getting from Indian people.  Most of them are living in Jama masjid area in old Delhi believes that they are their own country, they are not facing any difficulties in terms of food, clothes, culture and people. Some of them have relatives in India and some of them have to move to Pakistan during the bloody partition of India – Pakistan in 1947.

Mohammed Javed, a traditional footwear seller from Lahore,whose family moved to Pakistan from Patiala, India due to Indo-Pak partition in 1947

“I feel like I am in my home, I am in Lahore.  I love India, my grandfather was born in Patiala but he had to move to Pakistan during partition. So India is always close to my heart” says  38 year old Mohammed Javaid from Lahore who sells traditional Pakistani footwear.

Shahid Khan`s family also had to move to Pakistan during partition, his family used to stay in Meerut. But he still have some relatives in India. His cousin brother, Mohammed Arif from Meerut is helping him in his Kebab stall here in trade fair. “I have many relatives in India. I go to meet them if they live in delhi and if they are from outside then they come and meet me” He says.

Pakistani exhibitors think fairs like these definitely provides a very big platform to improve Indo-Pak relations. Shahid Khan says “Trade is the best way of bringing both countries closer. We come here for love of Indian people not just for trade. People are same in both sides, we should learn to keep the animosity only to the government level.”

The 29 year old, Shafiq Ahmad , Kashmiri shawl seller from Swat, Pakistan says “Indian people love Pakistan in same way the Pakistani people love India. I wish more and more people are allowed to cross borders, this will be good for both the countries. ”

Shahid khan and Mohammed Javaid have some regrets that they won`t be able to allowed to their ancestoral homes in Meerut and Patiala respectively. “If i am allowed to go to Patiala and visit my grandfather’s haweli in shera-walan gate (in patiala), I will go right now ” says Mohammed Javaid.

Artists from across the border bringing people closer

The legendary Pakistani Sufi singer Abida Parveen is all set to mesmerise her Indian fans at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in Delhi on November 13. The concert is being organized by Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR), a NGO named Routes 2 Roots and Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC).  She is a rare female Sufi singer as females are traditionally not allowed to sing in Pakistan. She mainly sings ghazals, Urdu love songs and her forte, Kafis, a solo genre accompanied by percussion and harmonium. She sings in Urdu, Sindhi, Punjabi and Persian. She took initial training from her father Ustad Gulham Husssein and later under the legendary Ustad Amanat Ali Khan. The 56 year old Sufi legend says that she has dedicated her life in spreading Sufism.

In August, Routes 2 Roots along with ICCR organized a four city tour of Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan where improving the Indo-Pak relations was highly empasised.

“Artists like Abida Parveen have huge fan following on both sides of the border, so they are very important in bridging the differences and animosity which people share on both the sides and such concerts definitely give a humanising touch” says Anushri Gupta of Routes 2 Roots.

Things are definitely improving, in last few years, with more and more artists performing across the border but there are still major challenges in getting artists across the borders to perform. Some Indian artists complain that they do not get the same opportunities in Pakistan and are against the involvement of Pakistani artists in Bollywood especially at a time when nearly every movie has atleast one song with Sufi touch and mostly sung by Pakistani artists.

Ms. Gupta further says “It’s very difficult to get visa clearances for Pakistani artists to perform in India and similarly, for Indian artists to perform in Pakistan.  Also when Indian artists go to Pakistan, they are very much concerned about security, as Pakistan is not a very safe place to perform”

“There is a lack of mutual trust in both countries, the visa norms are very strict for Pakistan and the procedure is time consuming and same thing happens in Pakistan” says former Indian ambassador to South Africa, Rajiv Bhatia

Mr. Bhatia further added regarding the improvement of Indo-Pak relations “there should be more leniency in giving visa to such artists as they are quite helpful in improving Indo-Pak relations especially people-to-people relations”