Filmmaker Onir’s script about a gay Army officer was rejected by the defence ministry. A former Army officer Major J Suresh, who the movie is based on, opened up about the matter and said that there are ‘two dimensions’ to discuss.
Major Suresh told Hindustan Times, “This current issue has two dimensions. One is denial of Onir’s freedom of speech.... The rejection of his script amounts to that. Second, is the army’s discriminatory policy against gays. We can only take the first one for now."
He added, "To solve the second one, either the army can order a review and change the policy to a more inclusive one - or else, it needs a much bigger legal challenge in the courts.”
Major Suresh said that he is ‘trying to avoid sensationalising’ the issue, adding, “Let’s keep in mind that the battle for gays to serve openly in the military is generally the last and most difficult battle in the fight for LGBT rights. The community has so many battles to win, like to fight for marriage, to adopt, for inheritance for partners etc.”
He came out as a gay man publically with a blog in 2020. Talking about his life right now, he said, “I am going through some very restricting circumstances in my life. So I’m not in the same situation as I was in 2020 and can’t take the same risks.” Major Suresh lost his father to COVID-19 in 2020.
Onir had earlier told Times of India that he planned to including Suresh’s story in his anthology We Are. He had said, “Through four queer love stories, the idea behind We Are is to celebrate the Supreme Court verdict as well as highlight how the society, including the Army, should take steps to become more inclusive".
Last year, the defence ministry had written to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and the I&B and electronics and information technology ministries to ask production houses to obtain an NOC from it before telecasting any movie, documentary or web series on the Indian Army.
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