Interesting article...

[Guest guest]

Interesting social analysis by Swapan Dasgupta, a Bengali, but "right wing"

"Hindutva" minded writer who was the USA correspondent for the "Times of

India" several years ago. He's independent at present...

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from www.rediff.com

 

Home > News > Columnists > Swapan Dasgupta

 

The problem is not homosexuality

 

August 23, 2004

 

The ability of small but resourceful interest groups to manipulate the media

and public debate is among the less appetising features of a democracy. This

month, the country, and Delhi in particular, has witnessed a determined

effort by well-connected gay activists and rent-a-cause liberals to turn

perversity into victimhood.

 

In the backdrop of a grisly double-murder in a posh South Delhi colony, a

campaign of intimidation has been mounted to force both the police and media

into meekly acquiescing to bizarre notions of political correctness.

 

At one level, the seemingly ritual killing of USAID worker Pushkin Chandra

and his so-called 'companion' Kuldeep is a plain crime story that can, at

best, arouse fleeting local interest. Yet, it was apparent from the outset

that this was more than just another murder. The Pushkin story grabbed

popular interest because of what it revealed about the seamy underside of

what passes for alternative sexuality in Delhi.

 

The issue was never the right of individuals to pursue their sexual

preferences. Nor did it centre on the apparent violations of Section 377 of

the Indian Penal Code which outlaws homosexuality.

 

Despite this law, what people get up to in the privacy of the bedroom is of

little interest to most people other than pseudo-sociologists and voyeurs.

Contrary to what indignant activists would have us believe, there is neither

a moral police in existence nor is society fundamentally intolerant of gays.

 

There are enough openly gay couples who dot the society pages of our

newspapers. They may be considered somewhat odd and, at times, bohemian, but

we haven't heard of cases of gay-bashing. Indeed, so great is the lure of

the Pink Rupee, that many restaurants and bars have begun to discreetly

organise Gay Evenings for this neglected clientele. As such, the accusations

of a witch-hunt of gays levelled by activists are somewhat far-fetched and

self-serving.

 

What the Pushkin case suggests, however, is that there is another dimension

of gay life which is both sordid and verges on the criminal. There is

nothing remotely normal about well-heeled gays routinely picking up young

boys from deprived backgrounds for the purposes of sexual gratification.

 

These are exploitative relationships that would be greeted with social

disdain if it involved a man and a woman. What would our reaction be to a

rich man who takes a vulnerable woman from a neighbouring slum as his

occasional companion? We would perceive it as a crude power relationship

based on lust. Is there any reason to view it differently just because it

centres on two or more males? Nor is there any reason to put a stamp of

approval on reckless promiscuity, just because it involves gays.

 

Secondly, there is growing global concern over paedophilia and child

pornography. Earlier this month, Tehelka conducted an investigation on a

child pornography network that was being run by some Europeans in Goa. This

is a problem that has assumed alarming proportions in popular tourist

destinations like Kerala and Sri Lanka, not to speak of Thailand. Last week,

London's Daily Telegraph revealed that street shelters for young boys in

Mumbai run by a British charity had become centres of sexual abuse. It led

to the actress Felicity Kendal withdrawing her patronage from the

organisation.

 

The Delhi police apparently found stacks of a particular variety of

pornographic literature in Pushkin's flat. This in turn triggered inquiries

over whether he was just a consumer of pornography or something more. In the

West, people are routinely arrested for downloading child pornography from

the internet. Why should the Delhi police be accused of harassing the entire

gay community if it probes deeper into Pushkin's hidden fascinations, if

only to understand the motives behind his murder?

 

Finally, the Pushkin case has brought into the open a nexus between

employees of international aid agencies and the gay underworld. Of

particular concern to many is the possibility of the lavishly funded

anti-AIDS campaign being misused to create a gay network. It would certainly

seem that some of the do-gooder foreigners ostensibly involved in improving

the plight of natives see India as just a convenient place to buy cheap sex

with poor slum kids.

 

The Pushkin case has served to open our eyes to a grim facet of gay life

that many people don't want to acknowledge. Courtesy the steady degeneration

of liberalism and the systematic assault on family values, ordinary, decent

people are wary of speaking out against the perversions in the gay community

lest it be construed as intolerance. They are further intimidated by the

aggressive support extended to alternative lifestyles by the presiding

deities of culture.

 

So widespread is the new gay evangelism, that during the contrived

controversy over Deepa Mehta's film Fire, there were loud claims of

homosexuality and lesbianism being part of the Indian 'heritage,' a claim

that angered many Hindu activists.

 

It is not necessary to comment on every piece of fanciful theology or

attempts to win fame through notoriety. Nor is it necessary to claim

everything that has a history -- and there is no doubt that homosexuality

and lesbianism had a shadowy presence over the ages -- as heritage. Yet,

that is precisely what is being done in the name of freedom and

enlightenment.

 

The problem is not homosexuality but our changing perceptions of it. What

was hitherto a fringe tendency has been given an extraordinary licence.

There is a growing climate of moral laxity that has led to countries like

India becoming new receptacles for what can best be called criminal

deviancy. Gay criminality isn't the whole problem but it is certainly part

of the problem and the Pushkin murder was an example of that.

 

It is a problem that should agitate society as a whole. And that includes

gays who see their sexuality as a purely private matter and not either as a

badge of superiority or a proselytising cause.

 

Swapan Dasgupta