FLASHPOINT
Human Rights Film Festival in the city sparks off discussions on LGBT rights
The
recently concluded FLASHPOINT Human Rights Film Festival highlighted several
very pertinent issues – both international as well as local human rights
violations and struggles. The films
screened at the festival focussed on issues like land grabbing in Cambodia, war
crimes in Sri Lanka, murder of reporters in Mexico, censorship in Cuba, Iran
& China, and forced disappearances in Kashmir.
Apart
from film screenings, everyday the Panel @ Paanch - a panel discussion held at
5pm - highlighted several crucial topics like violation of personal &
political boundaries, women’s rights issues, and creating change through
activism. However, resonating through every discussion, was the current raging
issue about the Supreme Court verdict on Sec 377 recriminalizing homosexuality.
Festival
Director of FLASHPOINT Human Rights Film Festival, Sridhar Rangayan said,
“Right to love, and right to have sex are human rights too. Why should gay,
lesbian, bisexual, transgender persons be denied this basic right in India?”
At
the three panel discussions, prominent LGBT activists Harrish Iyer, Shobhna S
Kumar and Jerry Johnson located the LGBT rights discourse within the context of
human rights.
Harrish
Iyer said, “After the SC verdict I’m worried that LGBT persons would go back
into the closet, and live in constant fear. I am also concerned that incidences
of suicide and calls related to depression will resurface, which had dropped
considerably post the Delhi High Court verdict in 2009 decriminalizing
homosexuality”.
Framing
the issue with respect to women, Shobhna S Kumar said, “Of late, over the past
few years we had seen lesbian, bisexual and trans women making their presence
felt at various events. With the new ruling it will be difficult for them to
come out, as they face double discrimination – first as a women and then as a
women with different sexual orientation or gender identity”.
Jerry
Johnson, who lives with his partner Deepak Kashyap, says that same-sex
relationships are now threatened by this new verdict, “Does the government have
a right to intrude into people’s lives, can it dictate our identities?”
The
other panelists who were filmmakers and human rights activists too felt that
the recent verdict was a regressive one and implied gross human rights
violation for the LGBT community.
Noted
filmmaker Kalpana Lajmi, speaking at the panel on women’s rights said, “The
bedroom is a personal space and no one has the right to invade it”.
Author
& journalist Gautam Benegal said, “The government should only act as a
night watchman; it should not have any business in our bedrooms, in our
businesses, and in our lives”.
Women’s’
rights campaigner Shyama Kulkarni said “People have started understanding that
this issue is not exclusive to gay rights. It’s a fight for the right to live
with dignity, right to love without fear”.
Filmmaker
and social activist Vinta Nanda said, “I have been a great supporter of equal rights
and I will always support initiatives that uphold them”.
Rangayan
called people to participate in the Global Day of Rage held across the world to
protest against the SC verdict on Dec 15th. “Whoever believes in any
kind of rights should support us, because our struggle is not just about sexual
rights, but about our lives”
The
3rd FLASHPOINT Human Rights Film Festival, organized by Solaris
Pictures in association with ACEE-The Third Eye was held at the Alliance Française
de Bombay from December 12 – 14th. Supported by Movies That Matter,
Netherlands, the film festival screened films on human rights from Cuba,
Mexico, Iran, China, Sri Lanka, Israel, North Korea, Cambodia, Germany, USA and
India. The film festival was well attended by activists, academics, students,
filmmakers, celebrities and film enthusiasts.
The
film festival was flagged off by its Festival Patron noted filmmaker and
activist Mahesh Bhatt who dedicated the festival to the late Nelson Mandela. He
said, “Nelson Mandela led a movement against apartheid. We need a similar
movement here to fight against human rights violations, so that all can live as
equals”.
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