The Union defence ministry told Parliament last week that the only film denied a “no objection certificate (NOC)” by the Army last year was a feature about a gay officer who is shown to fall in love with a Kashmiri man. In response to a question by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Varun Gandhi, Union minister of state for defence Ajay Bhatt said that the armed forces couldn’t be depicted in a manner that brought “disrepute” to the country.
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The Union defence ministry told Parliament last week that the only film denied a “no objection certificate (NOC)” by the Army last year was a feature about a gay officer who is shown to fall in love with a Kashmiri man. In response to a question by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Varun Gandhi, Union minister of state for defence Ajay Bhatt said that the armed forces couldn’t be depicted in a manner that brought “disrepute” to the country.
This is unfortunate. Plenty of movies, in Hindi and other languages, have been made where characters portraying soldiers are shown to be in romantic relationships with local residents of conflict regions. The only difference between those films and the current proposal by director Onir is that those features depicted heterosexual relationships. Moreover, the movie is based on a true story of an Army major, who has written extensively about his experience — therefore, the possibility of factual distortion is minimal.
India decriminalised homosexual relations four years ago. In its judgment, the Supreme Court said history owed an apology to the community. There is nothing disreputable about a homosexual relationship or a soldier who is gay. Yes, the armed forces have their internal discipline and security cannot be compromised, but as several countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States, have shown, inclusivity of gender and sexual orientation doesn’t compromise national security. A gay soldier doesn’t show the Army in poor light, but its perceived intolerance of natural sexual orientations does. The force should reconsider its decision and give the proposal the consideration it deserves.
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