Well, well…Looks like India has found yet another common ground with Pakistan besides cricket. One day ago, India joined hands not only with Pakistan, but also Russia, China, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE to vote in favour of an anti-gay resolution drafted by Russia. An odd coterie of countries isn’t it? But then bigotry makes for strange bedfellows.
The resolution favoured removal of benefits for same-sex partners among UN staffers even as the world body recognised same-sex marriages last year. It is being rumoured that this resolution was just some of the countries, especially Russia’s modus operandi to challenge authority since the UN chief, Ban-Ki-Moon had not consulted member states in arriving at their new pro-homosexual policy.
Thankfully, at the voting, more liberal minds prevailed and Russia’s anti-gay resolution was voted down. But even as many of us back home are cringing in embarrassment at our country’s representatives making a mockery of us on world stage, the Indian government stands unapologetically and yes, proudly homophobic.
Even if we, the aam junta, do not go in our usual, yet sadly disregarded, rant on how the government needs to open its mind, be less bigoted, less homophobic, less racist, casteist, chavunist, sizeist – the list is pretty long- there are other equally serious considerations that the government, as a world player, should have definitely thought about before casting its lot with the rabid conservatives.
India seems to have forgotten how to play its cards in the UN. This isn’t about whether you are for or against gay rights. This is about diplomacy and India has been shockingly gauche about it. After all, rationally speaking, what does the country stand to lose if a handful of UN diplomats are allowed to have same sex marriages? Considering that many of them hold their posts at the mercy of the government, the Indian diplomats would not have even considered a same sex marriage for themselves, unfortunately.
Besides, the government already has section 377 to lord over back home. Couldn’t it just have swallowed its anti-gay pride and not flaunted its dirty linen in front of the global public. At the very least, our government could have played neutral, non-commital, abstained from voting. They would have known how the numbers are stacked up and that they are not likely to win the vote. This was a totally unnecessary and foolish exercise on part of the government.
The government doesn’t even seem to have stopped to consider that this move may likely boomerang in our face. The issue of diplomats’ benefits may seem like a very small issue indeed, but it shows the stance that the BJP government intends to take. India has already had several ‘negative moments’ in the spotlight in the past year and a half, thanks to a rapidly religious colour to our politics. We have had the visiting president of the one of the most powerful countries in the world, the USA, chastise our coloured politics and suggest ‘tolerance’ during his speech at Delhi. That message alone should have been enough for India to realise this – the world is watching us. President Obama again commented on India’s religious intolerance during a speech at Washington.
India has already been placed by the US State Department and U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in 2014 under “Tier 2 category” of “countries of particular concern”, along with Afghanistan and Russia. After Obama’s speech on religious intolerance in India, our babus worried that this classification may get downgraded further in the 2015 report. With our anti-gay rights stance, we have probably moved one step closer in ensuring that we get further downgraded.
Some people may argue that it is not a big deal considering it is only country’s rating, but these ratings affect everything from foreign policy, diplomacy, clout on the global stage and economic sanctions, especially since the US is such an influential country.
The government cannot go around cherishing dreams of being a world leader and gaining permanency at the Security Council, if it is unable to play by the rules of diplomacy and present a clean front on the world stage.
Naturally all this is yet to sink in. Last we heard, one of the babus was fretting to an Indian newspaper about their legal and moral conundrums on how to treat visiting gay diplomats considering that homosexuality is a crime in India.
“What do we do when they come to India – recognise them or treat them as freaks? Will they, in India, be allowed to treat each other as legal heirs or dependents, just as an example? We don’t know. We’ll have to figure this out,” said a babu in an interview with the Telegraph.
Great sense of priorities, we must say. Perhaps they could use this anti-homosexual camaraderie to patch things up with Pakistan.
Image courtesy: BCCL
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