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Reflections on The Supreme Court Liberating Gays And Lesbians

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Reflections on The Supreme Court Liberating Gays And Lesbians

By Saeed Naqvi

Those travelling to England for the first time in the sixties were recipients of a tract from the British High Commission listing the dos and don’ts. Among the don’ts was a paragraph in italics:

“A single woman may invite you to her apartment for tea and refreshments. This must not be taken for license.” That the tract did not warn me about the risks of accepting gentlemen’s hospitality was presumably because Victorianism had not quite faded in the sixties.

In those days the androgynous appeal of Twiggy, the modelling sensation was the big draw. The fashion industry had marketed flat chested girls, looking like boys, as the new sex symbols. The trend had been initiated by the haute couture in Paris. Balenciaga and Givenchy were in love and presumably had copious sex too, as did others in that business. You were a square if you were straight.

If men were going to be so unidirectional, women too were beginning to experience things they called freedom. All generalization are hopelessly inadequate. The freedom was in fact a device to protect self esteem, increasingly bruised by the casual indifference of men. Women’s emancipation clashed headlong with the “femininity” which poetry, thumri, folk songs, love letters had burdened our aesthetics with for centuries.

Motia hiraye gayee, Rama

Kaise dhoon dhoon, (search)

Dhoondat, dhoondat,

baorae gayee, Rama”

(I have lost the pearl, my father’s gift,

O’Rama, how to find it?

I am going mad searching for it.)

The pearl has been lost in a moment of passionate ecstasy.

:Hiraye aanyein kangana

Gaunwaye aanyein jobana

nadia naarey”

“Defiantly, she surrendered her virginity by the riverside. In the sexual ecstasy, she lost her gold bangle.”

This raw ecstasy in the two folk songs is not the stuff of sex today – when urban emancipation conditions sexual behaviour.

Behari Lal Chaube (1595-1663), describes a “devar” husband’s younger brother, a constant in erotic Hindi poetry, throwing a flower playfully on his sister in law.

“Goosebumps of joy appeared on her limbs,

Mistaking them for insect bites

I hastened with a jar of ointment.

But when she smiled I

guessed the truth

and stayed my hand.”

Even Ghalib (1797-1869) puts his urbanity aside in her presence.

“Is nazakat ka bura ho, woh

bhaley hain bhi to kya

Haath aayein to unhein haath

lagaye na baney”

(Though wonderful she be, I hesitate to touch her, such is the delicacy of her form)

Even Josh Malihabadi (1894-1982), proud of his several love affairs, is mesmerized by her shyness.

(Haya ki shama jal uthi

harim e dil rubai mein

Ghumaya sar jhuka ke

der tak kangan kalai mein.”

(When I asked for her hand, her eyes were like shyness illuminated.

For a long while she played with her bangles.”

Raghupati Sahai Firaq Gorakhpuri (1896-1982), describes:

“Woh hai ghuncha, ghuncha jo dekhiye

Woh hai choomiye to dahan dahan.”

(Look at her, and she is a half open bud.

Kiss her and she is all mouth.)

John Keats in his letters could address Fanny Brawne as “My dear girl”. Try the patronizing tone, however steeped in lyric, on the professional MBA you are trying to date and she will hurl a paperweight at you.

Reflections on The Supreme Court Liberating Gays And LesbiansMake allowance for some exaggeration either way, and the truth remains incontrovertible: gender equality has wrenched man-woman equation from romantic traditions which admittedly engendered inequality. When T.S. Elliot’s single woman, after her one night stand,

“paces about her room again, alone

She smoothes her hair with automatic hands,

And puts a record on the gramophone.”

The boredom of it is palpable.

The emancipated, professional woman is light years away from the village belle who lost her pearl during sex. In asserting her gender equality does the contemporary woman cause her partner to feel inadequate and begin to withdraw from women for emotional security? In brief, the belle who lost the pearl is more relaxing; the emancipated woman, more challenging.

Freudian complexities which attend evolving man-woman equation causes some of the youth of both sexes to find greater comfort, relaxation and friendship in seeking out persons of their own sex for all purpose relationships. The withdrawal of men from the market causes women to move in the other direction.

This sociologically conditioned augmentation of the LGBT community is only a fraction of those who are gay or heterosexual for hormonal reasons.

Social reasons for this increase will cause the stream to join the torrent, a function of many streams, which could lead to unsettling demographic changes. That is possibly the most frightening consequence of the issue the Supreme Court addressed in a historic judgement.

The judgement brings out of the purdah that which was hidden. Does a whole body of poetry on that which was behind the curtain become kosher too? It is great poetry from Chaucer and Iqbal to Jaffar Zatalli, Chirkeen, Rafi Ahmad Khan, Mahshar Enayati, Abba Changezi, Uriyan Hyderabadi. Do we have their Lordship’s permission to bring it all out in the open?

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PM Modi to visit Hyderabad in first Telangana trip since 2024 Lok Sabha victory

PM Modi will visit Hyderabad on May 10 in his first Telangana trip since the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and unveil projects worth over Rs 7,800 crore.

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PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Hyderabad on May 10 to launch and inaugurate projects worth over Rs 7,800 crore while addressing a major BJP public meeting in Secunderabad

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Hyderabad on Saturday in his first trip to Telangana after returning to power for a third term following the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The visit is expected to combine infrastructure announcements with a major political outreach programme ahead of upcoming local body elections in the state.

During the visit, the Prime Minister will inaugurate and lay foundation stones for multiple development projects collectively valued at around Rs 7,823 crore. Among the key projects is the integrated industrial smart city at Zaheerabad under the Hyderabad-Nagpur Industrial Corridor, being developed at a cost of Rs 2,360 crore across 3,245 acres.

PM Modi is also scheduled to inaugurate the PM MITRA Kakatiya Mega Textile Park in Warangal. The project, estimated at nearly Rs 1,695 crore, is expected to attract major investments and generate employment opportunities in the textile and apparel sector.

Railway, highway and petroleum infrastructure projects are also part of the programme. These include the third railway line between Kazipet and Vijayawada and national highway works in Mahabubnagar district. A petroleum storage and distribution terminal in Hyderabad is also expected to be inaugurated.

Apart from official engagements, the Prime Minister will visit HITEC City to inaugurate Sindhu Hospital and interact with healthcare professionals before addressing a large public gathering at Parade Grounds in Secunderabad organised by the BJP’s Telangana unit.

The BJP has planned an extensive mobilisation drive for the event and is expecting a crowd of nearly two lakh people. The meeting is being seen as an important political show of strength as the party prepares for the upcoming Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections.

Security arrangements have also been tightened ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit, with restrictions imposed on drones, paragliders and microlight aircraft in parts of Hyderabad and Secunderabad.

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Punjab minister Sanjeev Arora arrested by ED after raids in money laundering probe

Punjab minister Sanjeev Arora was arrested by the ED after raids at multiple premises linked to him in Chandigarh and Delhi-NCR under the PMLA.

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ED conducted searches at multiple locations linked to Punjab minister Sanjeev Arora before arresting him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act

Punjab minister and AAP leader Sanjeev Arora was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday after the agency carried out raids at premises linked to him in Chandigarh and the Delhi-NCR region.

According to officials, the searches were conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The ED reportedly raided four locations connected to Arora and his associates before taking him into custody from his official residence in Chandigarh’s Sector 2.

Arora, 62, is the Aam Aadmi Party MLA from Ludhiana West and currently serves as a minister in the Punjab government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.

Reports said this is the third time this year that the ED has conducted action linked to Arora. Earlier raids were also carried out in April and earlier this month as part of an ongoing investigation.

The arrest triggered strong political reactions from the Aam Aadmi Party. AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal criticised the BJP-led Centre, alleging misuse of central agencies against opposition leaders. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also attacked the BJP, saying Punjab would not be intimidated by such actions.

Several reports linked the ED action to an alleged money laundering probe connected to suspected fake GST transactions worth around ₹100 crore. However, the ED has not yet released a detailed official statement publicly outlining all allegations against the minister.

The arrest comes amid heightened political tensions in Punjab, where opposition parties and the ruling AAP have repeatedly clashed over corruption allegations and the use of investigative agencies.

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Sheikh Hasina praises Suvendu Adhikari after Bengal oath ceremony

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Sheikh Hasina

Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has congratulated Suvendu Adhikari following his swearing-in as West Bengal Chief Minister, praising his “strong, people-oriented leadership.”

Adhikari took oath as the state’s first BJP Chief Minister during a high-profile ceremony attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers and several NDA chief ministers.

In her message, Hasina reportedly expressed hope that Adhikari’s tenure would strengthen regional cooperation and reflect the aspirations of the people of West Bengal.

The BJP secured a sweeping mandate in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, winning 207 seats in the 294-member assembly and ending the long rule of the Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee.

Adhikari, who emerged as one of the BJP’s key faces in Bengal politics after joining the party in 2020, was formally elected leader of the BJP legislature party ahead of the oath-taking ceremony.

The new Bengal Chief Minister has said his government will focus on development, governance and implementation of the BJP’s election promises.

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