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Sweta Daga

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Manohar Elavarthi was set to raise queer rights awareness in Devara Jeevanahalli, one of Bengaluru&#39;s largest slums, on April 19, 2024. Elavarthi, co-founder of a gender and sexual minorities rights group called Sangama, intended to discuss LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, and more) issues with residents, along with broader social concerns like rising living costs, unemployment, and secularism. He teamed up with members of the Gender and Sexual Minorities for Secular and Constitutional Democracy (GSM) to lead the discussion.



Incidentally,
this was also the first day India began its 2024 General Elections, and a week
before Karnataka&#39;s Bengaluru would go to the polls.  



Just as
Elavarthi started canvassing, 10
men from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – wearing saffron scarves and
party insignia – surrounded him and me (the journalist covering the awareness drive) in the narrow lanes of Devara Jeevanhalli, popularly known as
DJ Halli. Most voters here are rural migrants, many are from the
Muslim community.



“You&#39;re just a Congress party agent!” shouted a BJP
member, triggering a chorus of support from the other men who gathered around  Manohar and me.The other volunteers were yet to join Manohar at this stage. Brandishing the GSM leaflets, the BJP men
declared “these are illegal.”

Any civil society group can legally distribute
pamphlets that critique the ruling party. Election commission norms <a href="https://www.indiacode.nic.in/show-data?actid=AC_CEN_3_81_00001_195143_1517807327542&amp;sectionId=29715&amp;sectionno=127A&amp;orderno=150#:~:text=Restrictions%20on%20the%20printing%20of%20pamphlets%2C%20posters%2C%20etc%2C%2D%2D(,printer%20and%20the%20publisher%20thereof">say</a> that a political party, however, is prohibited from circulating
critical material about another party.



Manohar tried explaining this to the agitated party
members. Suddenly, their attention turned to me and they started questioning my
presence there, demanding my camera be turned off. 



On learning that I was a journalist, they became
less aggressive towards me. This allowed Manohar and I to walk further to meet
the other volunteers. Manimaran Raju, the Vice President of the local BJP party
office, who was among the men in the group, decided to let us proceed. 



But the volatile situation quickly changed and in no
time we were surrounded by twice the number of BJP workers. An official car also appeared on the scene with Electoral Officers and the police. 

In
under a few minutes – before any canvassing began – Manohar, GSM volunteers,
and I were asked to go to the Devara
Jeevanhalli Police Station.

Since 2014, the BJP, led by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, has been in power and is now seeking a third term in
2024. The
locality is part of Bangalore
North Lok Sabha constituency and standing candidates from here are Shoba Karandlaje
from the BJP and Professor M.V. Rajeev Gowda from the Congress.  



GSM
pamphlets included criticism on the rising prices of gas cylinders, unemployment among the youth, and the
sharp rise in religious intolerance India has witnessed in the last 10
years. 



“Its representatives are constantly making speeches
dividing us in the name of religion, caste and language. Can we allow them to
spread hate in Karnataka, our land of peace and harmony (?)’’ the pamphlet
asks.



“When democracy is under threat, we don’t see a point
in just defending one community, but we need to defend the larger idea of
democracy,” says Manohar. “We don’t necessarily think Congress is the best
party for GSM but the present regime is the biggest threat to our Constitution,
secularism and democracy. If democracy is lost, then all marginalised
communities lose,” he says, as we walk through the narrow lanes of the slum. 



“This is the first time in Karnataka’s
history that such a large coalition of LGBTQIA+ people came together during an
election,” says Siddharth Ganesh, a queer scholar. The GSM has members from the
queer community and allies from various Karnataka districts of Kolar, Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru rural,
Chikballapur, Ramanagar, Tumkur, Chitradurga, Vijayanagara, Ballari, Koppal,
Raichur, Yadagiri, Kalaburagi, Bidar, Bijapur, Belagavi, Dharwad, Gadag,
Shimoga, Chikkamagaluru, Hassan and Chamarajnagar. 



“The queer community coming together under the
umbrella of GSM to coordinate campaign efforts is a step towards achieving a
more just and equal society for all minorities,” says Siddharth, also a part of
the Coalition for Sexual Minority and Sex Workers&#39; Rights
(CSMR), one of the members of the larger GSM.

Addressing
our group of activists surrounded by aggressive party workers, Election
Commission officer, Syed Muniyaz said, “A law was broken”. Muniyaz, who is a
part of the Election Commission Flying Squad, was investigating the complaint
lodged by the BJP members. When we asked to see it, he said it was only a verbal
complaint. 



&quot;What
is the complaint that was registered against the volunteers?&quot; I asked.
“They broke the law so they have to go,” Muniyaz said, referring to the
distribution of pamphlets. The GSM volunteers decided it was best to comply in
order to diffuse the situation. 



As we were
walking to the station, motorbikes with men wearing saffron scarves zoomed past
us, almost brushing up against us in the small lanes, shouting harrowing
taunts, “You should die”, “Go to Pakistan” and “You people are not Indians.”



At the
station, another 20 men were waiting for us. When the GSM volunteers and I went
in, they surrounded us. These men, all party workers, threatened to have my
phone and camera taken away. Some men moved towards me, but others held them
back. Then they wanted me out of the room when the police inspector was
speaking to the volunteers.



After nearly half an hour of being detained in
this station, the group was let off. No written complaint was filed. The GSM
volunteers were asked to leave the station, with no room for questions about
why this happened despite the legality of events. They were shut down from
canvassing that day too.

“After
centuries of being criminalised by the state, this is a movement towards
undoing state neglect, apathy and violence, where the queer community is
working towards increasing queer representation in politics,” says Siddharth, a
scholar who studies queer activism in Bengaluru. 



I couldn&#39;t pursue the story I had planned, but it was essential for me to share this incident. 



&quot;What can I
say?” said the BJP’s Manimaran Raju when asked about his colleague’s behaviour.
“I don&#39;t know what to say. I will speak to them as soon as this is over. They
should not act like that (trying to physically take away the camera).&quot; 



With less than a month left in the election process, not only has the Election Commission
been called upon several times to intervene across the country, but many other
citizens have faced harassment and intimidation during the voting process. 



The volunteers and I were able to leave,
physically unharmed, but the question remains: how many more people will be
intimidated for exercising their democratic right?

‘If democracy is lost, all marginalised communities lose’

’جمہوریت کی شکست میں ہے پس ماندہ افراد کی شکست‘

ప్రజాస్వామ్యం ఓడిపోతే, అట్టడుగు వర్గాలన్నీ నష్టపోతాయి

’ஜனநாயகம் அழிந்தால், விளிம்பு நிலை சமூகங்களும் அழியும்’

'ਜੇ ਲੋਕਤੰਤਰ ਹੀ ਨਾ ਰਿਹਾ ਦੱਬੇ-ਕੁਚਲੇ ਲੋਕ ਵੀ ਕਿੱਥੋਂ ਰਹਿਣੇ'

‘ଯଦି ଗଣତନ୍ତ୍ର ସତ୍ତା ହରାଏ, ସମସ୍ତ ସଂଖ୍ୟାଲଘୁ ସମ୍ପ୍ରଦାୟ ସତ୍ତା ହରାଇବେ’

ജനാധിപത്യം ക്ഷയിച്ചാൽ അരികുവത്കരിക്കപ്പെട്ട സമുദായങ്ങളെല്ലാം പരാജയപ്പെട്ടുപോകും

‘लोकतंत्र की हार में है वंचितों की हार’

‘લોકશાહીની હાર એ વંચિત સમુદાયની હાર છે’

‘अऊ कतक लोगन मन ला अइसने धमकाय जावत रइही?’

‘कबले एह तरह से लोग के डेरावल-धमकावल जात रही’

‘গণতন্ত্র হারলে হারবে প্রতিটা প্রান্তিক সমাজ-ই’

‘গণতন্ত্ৰ হাৰি যোৱা মানে সকলো উপান্ত শ্ৰেণীয়ে হাৰি যোৱা’

ʼಪ್ರಜಾಪ್ರಭುತ್ವ ನಾಶವಾದರೆ, ಶೋಷಿತರೂ ನಾಶವಾಗುತ್ತಾರೆʼ

 Bengaluru

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‘If democracy is lost, all marginalised communities lose’

As members of the queer community went out to canvas during the run-up to General Elections 2024, the ruling party supporters heckled and threatened them and the journalist covering the event

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