Anti national slogans at LGBTQ Pride March

Queer Azadi distances itself from radical slogans, BJP jumps in for political mileage

Mumbai: With barely a year gone by after the section 377 was removed in September 2018 from the statute, that the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community had been breathing easy. On Saturday, February 1, the LGBT community once again found itself on the wrong side of the law as some participants in its parade raised slogans in favour of Sharjeel Imam, for his remarks on cutting-off the North-Eastern region from the rest of the country during the anti- Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) at New Delhi’s Shaheen Baug recently.

Already having lodged a complaint over the anti-CAA, anti-NRC protests at Gateway of India, state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vice president, Dr Kirit Somaiya lodged a fresh complaint demanding action against those involved in anti-national activities at Azad Maidan.

The recent Mumbai Pride Solidarity Gathering 2020 organised by Queer Azadi Mumbai (QAM) in the city on February 1, attracted controversy as some of the participants raised slogans in favour of Sharjeel Imam, who has been arrested on charges of sedition for provoking people to try to cut off north eastern states from rest of the country.

While the QAM, the collective that organised the Gathering, has distanced itself from the radical sloganeering, it has caught the eyes of political parties which have decided to take up the issue legally.

Reacting to radical sloganeering at the gathering, Dr Kirit Somaiya lodged a police complaint demanding strong action against those involved in the anti-national activities at Azad Maidan. In a letter written to the senior inspector, Azad Maidan police station, Somaiya said, “It is understood that on February 1, few individuals abused country and raised anti-national slogans during a programme organised by LGBT. The function and demonstrations were misused to support Shaheen Baug/anti CAA feelings. I would request to register FIR against the anti-nationals and take strong action.”

In a statement, QAM said, “We completely dissociate ourselves from and strongly condemn the abrupt radical slogans in support of Sharjeel and/or any other slogans against the integrity of India at the gathering. QAM works on the process of consensus before executing any action, however, we would like to highlight that neither QAM nor the individuals who have signed the permissions were communicated with or kept informed of the intent and/or content of this sloganeering.” The organisers have also claimed that it was irresponsible and potentially detrimental and none of the individuals raising these slogans were part of the organizing process or permissions process with them. These slogans, performances and protests happened abruptly and precipitously without the consent of the organizers”, the statement read.

The opposition to Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) has spread to every nook and corner of the country, and so has the support for it. The political parties are busy politicising the issue while some of the great human right movements are staring at disaster for being dragged into the controversy.