Filmmaker and queer rights activist Onir’s script for his next feature film, inspired by a gay Major who quit the Indian army, was rejected by the defence ministry, reports Times of India.
As per the report, two years ago, Onir had watched an interview of a gay Major who said he had to quit the Indian Army because his sexual orientation made it impossible for him to continue to serve. This inspired the filmmaker to write a story about a gay man who wants to serve the country but is unable to because of his homosexuality. “My protagonist is a jawan. His love remains unrequited till he leaves the Army and meets his love in Kolkata,” Onir told the publication.
The story was meant to be one of the segments in the anthology, We Are, a sequel to his National Award-winning 2010 Indian anthology, I Am.
According to Onir, We Are was meant to “celebrate the Supreme Court verdict (decriminalising consensual homosexual sex between adults) while highlighting four queer love stories about how society (including the Army) needs to take steps to be more inclusive and celebrate diversity.”
The film was scheduled to be partly shot in Kolkata from April.
However, according to a new rule, any film that portrays the Army or its personnel needs to obtain clearance from the defence ministry. The ministry had written to the CBFC and the ministries of information and broadcasting as well as electronics and information technology in July last year, directing them to advise production houses to obtain a NOC (No objection certificate) before the telecast of any film, documentary or web series featuring the Army.
Accordingly, Onir had written to the defence ministry in December seeking an NOC for his script.
In response to this, on Wednesday, Lt-Colonel Sachin Ujjwal of the ADG strategic communication wing of the Army wrote back that the script, after being “analysed in detail,” was denied clearance by the MoD (Army).
As per the TOI report, the filmmaker’s calls to Lt-Col Ujjwal on Thursday went unanswered.
“As a film-maker and queer rights activist, it is important for me to be able to tell this story,” Onir told the publication. He further added that filmmakers “are supposed to question through cinema. This attempt to stop dialogue is unfortunate. True democracy does not exist unless it applies equally to all citizens irrespective of gender, sexuality, caste, class or religion.”
Recommended
On Friday, Onir took to Twitter and wrote, “75 years of Independence, more than three years since the Supreme Court of India decriminalised homosexuality, but as a society we are a long way from being treated as equals. While 56 countries across the world accept LGBTQI in the army, it is still illegal in the Indian Army.”
He further said that it was “sad that as a filmmaker one is denied the possibility of a dialogue.”
Onir is reportedly discussing his future course of action with his lawyers.