Is Lesbianism a Western Concept?

PUBLISHED IN: THE TIMES OF INDIA
They are at it again. The self-appointed guardians of Indian culture are agitating against the controversial film on lesbianism, `Girlfriend’. They want the film banned because it “is not a reflection of Indian culture and that it (lesbianism) is a concept imported from the west”. If lesbianism is alien to Indian culture then how come it is mentioned in the 5000-year old Vedas?
The Vedas are said to be issued forth by Brahma and is largely considered to be origin of Indian culture, values and traditions. It consists of verses concerning civic virtues (Dharmashastra), politics (Brhaspati), property (Arthashastra) and sexuality (Kamashastra). According to the Vedas, hum beings are divided into male, female and tritiya-prakriti or third sex. Lesbians come under the latter category. Throughout the Vedas lesbians are known as svairini meaning independent or liberated woman. She is described as someone who lives alone or with another woman. In Vedic times she was allowed to engage in all means of livelihood including trade, government, entertainment and were readily accommodated in the ordinary society.
What is the situation now? Here is a sample: Leela Namdeo and Urmila Shrivastava, two police women with the 23rd battalion of Special Armed Forces dared to marry in a Hindu ceremony. They were expelled from their jobs because they were considered a “bad influence on others”. Gita Darji and Kishori Shah, two lesbian nurses in their mid-twenties who lived in a small town in Gujarat, unable to bear the persecution by family and society, hanged themselves. Between 1999-2000 Karalla reported nine suicides of lesbians. In the same year, two girls in the state of Orissa were beaten up by their families for wanting to stay together. The girls attempted suicide, one of them died. In Nagaland, cops raped a lesbian woman for five months apparently to cure her of her lesbianism.
In Vedic society, third gender citizens were neither persecuted nor denied basic rights. According to Dharma Shastra, adultery, rape and crime against women, violation of children was punished by death, but not homosexuality. Whereas in modern India, a man who throws acid on a woman can get out of prison (that is if he goes to prison in the first place) in less than five years; same is the case with child molesters; rapists and other diabolic people. But if you are a lesbian, or if you make a film (even a bad one) on lesbianism, hell freezes over.
What symbolizes Indian culture? Tolerance and acceptance or violence and bigotry? In Hinduism there are no accidents. Everything in nature has a purpose, and reason for existence. 5000 years ago people believed that the tritiya-prakritis played an integral role in the balance of both human society and nature. But, nowadays, people believe that they pollute the society.
The agitators say, “Films like this can corrupt tender minds. It is an assault against our Indian culture. We don’t wan tour children to watch such films.” I say you would be right in not allowing your child to watch `Girlfriend’ because it is a bad film and not because it deals with lesbianism. Most people do not even blink before dragging their children to watch films that include a mandatory rape scene, mind boggling violence, vulgar dance movements and awful double-meaning jokes. Won’t your children get affected? Do these movies reflect Indian culture? Why are we not agitating against these? Recently, I watched a film which opened with a scene that had absolutely no connection whatsoever with the storyline. The scene shows a college principal dressed in a woolen min skirt (if you know any principal in this country that dresses like that please do let me know). One of her students tug at her skirt and the apparel unravels. The principal is blissfully unaware of it all till her skirt disappears completely. The camera zooms in on her naked thunder-thighs. The students’ clap and laugh. So do the audience. According to Indian culture, guru or teacher is next only to God. Right? (The film was a super-duper hit).
Acceptance of lesbianism is an individual choice. But when it comes to discrimination against another human being because of their different sexual orientation or indulging in violence against them there is no choice. Bigotry should never be tolerated. DO not use Indian culture as an excuse for your intolerant and biased nature. In fact, it was Queen Victoria who refused to believe that homosexuality and lesbianism existed when it was accepted in India 5000 years ago. It was Lord Macaulay who formulated a law forbidding homosexuality and lesbianism. It is from this 140-year-old draconian law that our Sec 377 or IPC originates. Ironically, the law has been scrapped in England, but not in India. So stop saying that lesbianism is a western concept. That is just an excuse for the unsavory elements in the society to indulge in violence.