Children’s Day opened up a flurry of criticism and aggression on Twitter for stars Sonam Kapoor and Alia Bhatt as they lashed out at spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar for a ‘controversial’ statement made by him recently. The popular spiritual leader, was expressing his opinion on homosexuality, while answering a student who asked the guru how he should handle people who mistreat him for being a homosexual. “You don’t think you are sick or something is wrong with you. If you stand up, nobody can insult you, but, if you feel bad about yourself, nobody can make you feel better. This is your tendency now but know that this tendency is not a permanent thing. It may change. I’ve seen many men who were gay later turn into heterosexuals, and there are those who are normal, who are called straight people, end up being gay later in life,” is what the spiritual leader was reported to have said.
Completely appalled at his comment, Sonam Kapoor took to Twitter to strongly express her disapproval. No sooner, Alia Bhatt re-tweeted Sonam’s post and called it ‘OMG kinda moment!’ Die-hard followers of the spiritual leader refuted the veracity of the reports and claimed that the guru’s statement had been misinterpreted. While fans are still abuzz on Twitter, we spoke to a few youngsters to know their views on the same. Kalyani Nandakumar who is an M.Phil student says that she is surprised to see many people face the heat of social stigma even now. “I have many friends who are homosexual and bi-sexual and I still hear them complaining about the social stigma which prevents them from coming out and letting the world know their real identity. It’s really sad and I feel it is high time things should change,’” said Kalyani.
While transgender activist Shilok Mukkati feels that the problem lies in the lack of education on sexuality and gender. “It is very disappointing to hear such statements from a person who is very influential to a very large community. Homosexuality is completely normal and it is not there only in human beings but in other animals too. It’s just that human beings are conditioned with the idea of heterosexuality and people are much stigmatised. We cannot blame them too because we don’t have a proper education system that talks about sexuality or gender,” says Shilok Mukkati.
Many people feel that ignorance about same-sex relationships is rampant in our country. “There are many people who look at it like an abnormality. But after I moved to Bengaluru, I met people who openly admit that they are bi-sexual. I think that’s really cool and I see absolutely no point in making a fuss of homosexuals,’’ said Sanat Shankar, a visual media student.
