Members of the national and international human rights community has condemned the harassment meted out to Intersex activist Gopi Shankar Madurai who is the South Representative at the National Council for Transgender Persons.
“We the members of the national and international human rights community deeply condemn the human rights violation and inhumane treatment committed by the Revenue Inspector of Chengalpattu (Mahabalipuram) James, District Collector of Chengalpattu Rahul Nadh IAS, Police Inspector Mahabalipuram D. Natarajan on Gopi Shankar Madurai, South Region representative of the National Council for Transgender Persons (NTCP) and prominent intersex rights activist who has contributed a lot for the betterment of gender and sexual minorities”, the statement said.
“We are stunned by the behaviour of District Collector of Chengalpattu Rahul Nadh IAS who abused his power and acted in violation of principles of natural justice”, the statement further noted.
The joint statement also said that the authorities along with VAO Venkat Rajesh of Mahabalipuram verbally abused and insulted Gopi who was addressing grievances of the concerns of Transgender and gender non-confirming communities noting that Ze is empowered to do so under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights Act), 2019.
It said that due process of law should be followed and people involved should be given an opportunity to provide their account.
“We issue this statement in solidarity with the firm belief that any for of inhumane treatment, hatred, and violence against Gopi and SOGIESC community is an attack on all of us and the rights enshrined in the Supreme Constitution of India. We stand together to call for solidarity and support across our various communities.”, the statement said.
The signatories included:
1) Bangladesh Queer Partnership Platform- EQUAL, Bangladesh
2) Inclusive Bangladesh, Bangladesh
3) Noboprobhaat Social Welfare Society, Bangladesh
4) Prantoz Foundation, Bangladesh
5) Somota Foundation, Canada
7) Pathchola Foundation, Bangladesh
8) Nayyab Ali, Transgender Rights Activist, Pakistan
9) Tanveer Rouf, Queer and Vegan Activist, Bangladesh/Canada
10) Manisha Meem Nipun, Transgender Rights Activist, Bangladesh
11) Md Yasin Ali, Queer Rights Activist, Bangladesh
12) Tushar Kanti Baidya, Human Rights Activist, Bangladesh
Gopi Shankar had posted in his social media that the DMK Government in Tamil Nadu is trying to trap him into false cases by implicating him as a drug peddler.
Some of the other activists and organizations who have expressed solidarity to Gopi include
1. Anjali Gopalan – Founder of the Naz Foundation (India) Trust. New Delhi, India.
2. Henry Koh – Executive Director of ILGA Asia (The International Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans and Intersex Association, Bangkok, Thailand)
3. Iniyan Ellalan – Dalit Rights Activist, MC Rajah Youth Movement. Chennai and Madurai, India.
4. Ashok Row Kavi – Senior LGBTQ+ Rights Activist & Editor of Bombay Dost & Founder of Humsafar Trust.
5. Intersex Asia, Taiwan (through their statement of support from their official Facebook page).
6. Shalini Nair – Journalist & PhD candidate (UK & India)
7. Pallav Patankar – LGBTQ+ Rights Activist, Mumbai, India.
8. Advocate Prashant Singh – Human Rights Lawyer, Supreme Court of India, New Delhi
9. Advocate Vijay Mishra – Human Rights Lawyer, Supreme Court of India, New Delhi
10. Meghna Sharma – Disability Rights Activist, New Delhi
11. Grace Banu – Transgender & Dalit Rights Activist, Tamil Nadu, India.
12. Hayathi – Transgender Rights Activist, educator on Diversity & Workplace Inclusion, Bangalore, India.
13. Avantika Srivastava – Child Rights Activist, Uttar Pradesh.
14. Hamdan Abdullah – Equal rights activist. Founder of All India SOGIESC Muslims Forum, Kerala.
15. Zainab Javed Patel – National Council for Transgender Persons, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
16. Sohini Chattopadhyay – National Award (Swarna Kamal) Winning Critic, Writer & Journalist, West Bengal.
17. Ankit Bhuptani (Individual)
18. Queer Hindu Alliance (Organisation)
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