Kathmandu, July 1 (IANS) After hitting the headlines worldwide last month for hosting a temple wedding for an American lesbian couple, Nepal’s sexual minorities are now locked in a grim battle – fighting the powerful and intransigent army for justice.
A Nepali lesbian soldier, who was sacked four years ago by the Nepal Army for ‘immoral behaviour’, has won a minor victory with the republic’s apex court ordering the reform of the military justice system.
However, 26-year-old Bhakti Shah, who is yet to get her job as a physical instructor back, says she still has a long battle ahead before she feels vindicated.
Shah, who comes from Kailali, one of the most disadvantaged and remote districts of Nepal, joined the army eight years ago and rose to the rank of a naik – two stations above a soldier – for outstanding physical prowess.
But this was the cause of her downfall as well with her colleagues calling her a eunuch and attributing her physical fitness to her ‘not being a woman’.
When Shah befriended a young woman recruit, both were thrown out of the army.
Refusing to take the dismissal lying down, in 2007, Shah filed two cases against the Nepal Army. The first challenged her dismissal while the second challenged the Military Act governing the Nepal Army.
On Thursday, the three Supreme Court judges hearing the case against the Military Act said it was not in sync with either Nepal’s interim constitution or international laws and should be reformed.
The bench, that included chief justice Khila Raj Regmi himself, ordered the government to form a special task force comprising legal experts, human rights activists and civil society members and have the act reviewed.
‘We hail it as a positive verdict,’ said Bhuwan Prasad Niraula, Shah’s lawyer. ‘This also paves the way for a fresh legal suit challenging Shah’s dismissal.’
The first case against the dismissal was scrapped by the apex court more than a year ago but now, thanks to the bench ruling that the Military Act went against human rights, Shah will resume her legal fight for reinstatement.
Though Shah now works as a human rights defender at Blue Diamond Society, Nepal’s pioneering gay rights organisation, she says she wants her job in the Nepal Army back.
‘I am seeking reinstatement on behalf of my community,’ she said. ‘The interim constitution of Nepal and the Supreme Court have recognised the sexual minorities as bona fide citizens entitled to all the rights that other citizens enjoy. The army can’t be an exception.’
Shah has now adopted the persona of a man, calling herself Milan and living as man and wife with the recruit, who was also sacked by the army.
Once the butt of public ridicule and humiliation in Nepal’s conservative society, the sexual minorities are now increasingly becoming aware of their rights, thanks to the growing gay rights movement and a succession of court rulings in their favour.
A lesbian traffic constable, who was suspended and then arrested after her girlfriend’s family alleged a kidnap, was recently reinstated with the court dismissing the case.
(Sudeshna Sarkar can be contacted at sudeshna.s@ians.in)
