ആറ് മാസത്തിനിടെ രാസലഹരിയുടെ പിടിയിലായത് 411 കുട്ടികൾ; അനുഭവങ്ങൾ പങ്കുവെച്ച് വിദ്യാർത്ഥികൾ

Ernakulam: The dangers and immorality of using ‘conversion therapy’ on LGBTQIA+ individuals – highlighted across the world – were brought forth in Kerala recently, in the case involving lesbian couple Afeefa and Sumayya Sherin. The case also points to blind spots in the judiciary’s understanding of threats queer people face.

Speaking to The Wire on the phone July 5, Afeefa described the aftermath of the forced conversion therapy her family made her undergo at a private hospital in Kozhikode. “I was unable to feel my legs while walking. I was forcefully medicated,” the 21 year old said. She paused multiple times as she spoke. In the hospital, she said, she was forcefully injected with medication after she refused to take them orally. “My appetite and sleeping patterns have been affected,” she said.

“As long as I was in the hospital, as days went on from 10 to 15, the dosage increased. Sumayya had already told the media that I will be subjected to conversion therapy,” Afeefa continued.

Today, Afeefa and Sumayya are together again – but the road here has been hard, and they still feel the effects of the violence Afeefa was subjected to.

Curzon followed by writing a letter to St. John Brodnick, the Secretary of State for India, in February 1905, “The whole of their (Bengal’s) activity is directed to creating an agency so powerful that they may one day be able to force a weak government to give them what they desire”. So, Bengal’s (first) partition followed the same year.

Recent developments between the Union and the State of West Bengal show that the former’s attitude towards Bengal remains the same even today.

Ananta Rai has been demanding for a separate state of ‘Greater Cooch Behar’ carved out of West Bengal. This demand is part of an even greater demand of  Kamatapur comprising 8 districts of West Bengal and 15 of Assam. In the recent past, the area has witnessed large scale violent statehood movements by the Gorkhas, Rajbangshis, Kochs and Kamatapuris.

The region is sandwiched between Nepal, Bhutan on one side and Bangladesh on the south. The “chicken’s neck”, also known as the ‘Siliguri Corridor’ in north West Bengal, a piece of land just 21 km wide and 70 km long, that connects the entire north-east India with the mainland remains a vulnerable region. More so, in recent years with China expanding its chain of model villages close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC), 130 km away, which faces the strategically crucial corridor.

In the past, two of BJPs Union ministers from Bengal have openly encouraged dismemberment of West Bengal much to the embarrassment of the other state leaders. After all, the Rajbangshis matter in only three Lok Sabha constituencies and they fear losing the rest of West Bengal.

Additionally, BJP is the only all-India party that supports the demand for separation of the Darjeeling Hills from West Bengal.

Also read: Anti-BJP Sentiments Stir Darjeeling Amidst Drastic Changes in Hill Party Equations

It is being said that the ‘maharaja’, holds considerable influence over the Koch-Rajbangshi community and has over 18 lakh followers accounting for nearly 2.4% of voters in the state. Not all followers need be voters nor reside in the three districts of Alipurduar, Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri, where they are concentrated. Besides, the other faction of the community led by Bangshibadan Barman, supports the TMC.

It is also being said that there are 33 lakh Rajbangshis. The projected current population of these three districts where they matter electorally, is 76 lakhs and 30% of them or about 23 lakhs are from the Rajbangshi community according to reports. So the remaining 10 lakhs are scattered insignificantly in other districts. Has the BJP gone wrong somewhere in their expected vote calculations? But that is not so important for the country.

Anant Rai’s reported statement that creation of a new Union Territory (UT) in north Bengal was “only a matter of time”, raises serious concern. Rajbangshis are spread over not only north Bengal but in parts of Assam, Bihar, Nepal and Bangladesh. It goes without saying that fuelling any ethnic passion in this vulnerable region will be detrimental to the safety and security of the entire north-eastern part of the country.

The BJP’s inability to corner and dislodge the Mamata Banerjee government appears to be the main reason for their central leaders to take the path of separatism. The people of Bengal went through a trauma when their second partition came in 1947. To add insult to that injury, the BJP government commemorated what the Governor “peculiarly chose” as “the State Foundation Day of West Bengal” on June 20, that never was.