The Nowhere Men

It was perhaps only a matter of heartless misfortune that unleashed this nightmare for Pushkin's family and friends, because Pushkin was not alone in his doomed quest for companionship. Every night in India men from all sorts of backgrounds set out in search of love and company from men because that is how Nature has wired them.

The laws of Manu, 11.58 and 11.174, state that men who participate in anal intercourse lose caste and prescribe penance for a man who has shed semen in another male. Our British rulers chose to enforce Manu's ancient laws as the Hindu civil code. We now have Article 377 of the Indian Penal Code, a 141-year-old law that declares anal and non-procreative sex "against the order of nature" and a crime even if undertaken in private by consenting adults. Anyone caught in the act faces up to 10 years in prison.

This is effectively coercing a person to kill a desire that is natural, regardless of any shock value it may carry. It makes the law a violation of the right to life and livelihood, says Human Rights Law Networks' senior legal advisor Parul Sharma.

Snubbed by society and the law, gays struggle to come to terms with their inclinations against the backdrop of their upbringing in a set-up that extols marriage between men and women as a milestone in life and making babies its primary function. Tales abound of families reacting adversely to their sons coming out. The gay scion of a prominent Chennai business family was horrified at his parents' reaction when they realised his friend and business partner was something more than that. They were considering aversion therapy—a practice now banned in the West, but often used in India to force young gay men into marriage. It involves shock treatment and drugs. Helplines routinely get calls from gays ready to do anything to become straight and get married to a woman.

That's one option born of desperation. Another is to look for a partner. But what do you do when you can't find what you're seeking in your social circle? "In the absence of a conducive environment to find partners, they resort to extreme measures and high-risk behaviour," says Arpita Anand, a consultant psychologist with Max Health Care in Delhi.

In other words, you look for what you can find, whether it's among streets full of strangers or on the faceless anonymity of the Internet. Still, class and geography needn't be barriers, and lucky men have found love and affection. But others have found something more sinister.

One man in Bangalore was lured into meeting a couple of his date's friends. They kept him hostage while they made multiple withdrawals on his ATM card. He got away, Rs 60,000 later. In this case the victim could file an FIR, however humiliating the experience may have been.

Another gay man in Mumbai wasn't so lucky.His "friend", someone who had tracked him down over the Net, told him there was some great porn available near Dadar station. But as soon as the material was handed over, a man impersonating a policeman appeared and after roughing up the decoy seller and beating the victim, threatened to blackmail him. Given that he was in possession of incriminating evidence (the pornography) and that he could have identified the perpetrator only through an Internet nickname, there was very little he could have done, fake cop or not.

"There have always been incidents of blackmail and extortion in gay relationships since gay people are always under the threat of exposure. The mainstream community exploits this. We often get calls from people who have had such experiences," says Shaleen Rakesh of the Delhi-based Naz Foundation, an ngo actively involved in a number of gay-related issues.

A complainant who isn't careful can easily say something and be booked under Article 377. And, as Sharma points out, "There are documented cases of police abuse, illegal detention, extortion and intimidation." Pushkin's killing has opened up all these issues, which is why Praveer Ranjan, deputy commissioner of police, South Delhi, says firmly: "This is a simple murder case. It is not a question of gay issues or rights." Adds another officer involved in the investigation: "Even in a normal activity, if you become reckless, you are exposing yourself to certain threats. We want to know why this crime has been committed."

True enough. But gay and lesbian activists at a meeting in Delhi on Thursday to protest the lack of depth and perspective in the media coverage of the crime say that such good intentions aren't trickling down. Policemen have been systematically tracking down gay people in its aftermath, they argue. "Why are they asking us how we have sex; how on earth is that relevant to this crime?" asked a Naz Foundation volunteer at the meeting.

Of course, as with any section of humanity, some gay men will continue to take extravagant risks with their lifestyles. It's as much a part of their nature as it is for some drivers to play deathwish games on Indian roads. In fact, throughout history, for an entire section of upper-class gay and bisexual men, the "rough trade", or having sex with the most unsuitable boys possible, has been irresistible. The thrill lies in the risk-taking, which eventually led to considerable trouble for people like the writer Oscar Wilde or the mathematician John Nash.

There are also very real health risks. Dr Balwant Singh of India HIV-AIDS Alliance explains: "The combination of limited acknowledgement, information and services often means that men who have sex with men face higher health risks, which are multiplied when they have multiple sexual partners. There is limited information on safe sexual practices. The clandestine nature of the meetings also carries the risk of personal threat, blackmail and unreported violence."

Meanwhile, Voices Against 377, a group of activists, has filed a petition challenging the constitutionality of the Article in the Delhi High Court. "They are using 377 to penalise those who sexually abuse children. This needs a separate law. If consensual adult sex is taken out of it, the problem will be solved," says Anand Grover, project director with the HIV-AIDS Unit of Lawyers Collective in Delhi, who is one of the petitioners.

After two years of dithering, the government now counters that tampering with the section may result in a breakdown of the social order. "In a civil society, criminal law has to express and reflect public morality and concerns about harm to society at large. If this is not observed, whatever little respect of law is left would disappear, as law would have lost its legitimacy," it says.

The prognosis isn't great. But until society and the law learn to appreciate the difference between an alternative sexual identity and perversion there will be too many Pushkin Chandras out there, dragging themselves through ill-lit streets in search of a cruel nemesis.

Suveen K. Sinha with Shobita Dhar