Homosexuality and Indian Army
Discrimination though being an illegal activity in India as of 1950, it is still being practised prevalently in hindsight. Be it towards sex, caste, race religion or sexual orientation, people are not shy to call out them in derogatory terms or even threaten them and harass them in all and every way possible. The discrimination faced by females in workplaces is a whole different topic which roots from a very young age. But here we are going to discuss a much less discussed topic by other bloggers and newspapers.
Discrimination faced by LGBTQ+ members in workplaces.
Be it some other person sex life, or just the way one dresses, us Indian do not shy away from judging people as soon as we lay our eyes upon them. We are constantly thought to put people into categories in our minds and talk to each one of them differently as of how you have placed them in the category.
Knowingly or unknowingly, we do discriminate among people and it is mostly the ones who do it knowingly and want to hurt others and make them feel inferior.
A research conducted by a famous psychologist on college students stated that most of the people with power tend to manipulate the power no matter how much haywire it goes.
The same applies to the Indian army with its army act section 45.
HOMOSEXUALITY A PUNISHABLE OFFENCE IN MILITARY:
It might come as a surprise to many that being a homosexual in the armed forces is a punishable offence even after the abolition of section 377. But as most of the acts in the IPC, the army came out of this with a loophole.
According to the Army act section 45, "Any officer, junior commissioned officer or warrant officer who behaves in a manner unbecoming his position and the character expected of him shall, on conviction by court-martial, if he is an officer, be liable to be cashiered or to suffer such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned; and, if he is a junior commissioned officer or a warrant officer, be liable to be dismissed or to suffer such less punishment as is in this Act mentioned."
So basically, even though it is not written openly that one will be punished for homosexuality in the Indian army, given the conservative nature of the military if you are found to be a homosexual and engaging in homosexual activities, the likelihood that it will be considered to be an “unbecoming act” which might lead to a court-martial is extremely high (which is extremely derogatory to the serving official, and only happens when the serving officer is engaged in UCMJ crimes such as larceny and other conduct behaviour). Or the best-case scenario is that they can be imprisoned for 7 years for engaging in “unbecoming activities”.
In a statement made by Major General Bipin Rawat, 27th chief of army staff and the first chief of defence, he said: “It is hard to argue in these times. But the armed forces find huge resonance in the conservative actions of our society. The Army is conservative. We have neither modernised nor westernised… We can still take action against people. But we will not allow this to perpetuate into the Army. This cannot be allowed to happen. It is a very serious thing.”
He, however, stated that the Army was “certainly are not above the country’s law.” When one joined the Army, some of the rights and privileges authorised for civilians by the Constitution were not authorised for them [the Army]. “The Supreme Court has said something and we have to see how we take a call. Let us also see how this comes into the society,” he said.
It scares me as a patriot, fauji kid and also as a kid who always saw the Indian army in glorious light and will continue to do so. But it also deeply saddened me that the place where I grew up and was encouraged to be liberal and voice my opinion also is making rules to court-martial or imprison homosexual soldiers. Being homosexual is not a choice, it is the way a human is made biologically. We cannot control our oxytocin secretion, and that doesn't make us inhumes or as the media like to say “anti-national”.
Pointing this out does increase my risk of being labelled as an anti-national, but it is also my duty to point out the places where wrong practises are being ratified.
The change has started now only in India, it will take time, but in the meantime it is our duty as citizens of India to know this, act on this at the right time and help our fellow soldiers in the fauj who are yet scared to come out of the closet and help them to breathe the same fresh air that we as a community share.
JAI HIND, JAI BHARAT.
References :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bipin_Rawat
https://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/no-space-for-homosexuality-adultery-in-indian-army-560347
With insightful inputs from Shreya Mundra (pol sci student, Hindu college, DU), Siddhart Shankar Singh (Btech engineer from VIT), Granthika and Nishika (Bsc psychology student from MOP).
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