(If you are a Bombay High Court lawyer or a media person and wish to take up this case, please email yesweexistindia@gmail.com)
Nagpur: Kumar Kalbande, an employee of the Forest Survey of India (FSI), who is a gay man who belongs to the OBC community and is a person with a disability, has not been paid a salary for over 3 years. Kumar said, “I never imagined homophobia would turn my life 360 degrees. From being physically fit and financially secure, I am now living with a disability and a job that does not pay. This is not the life I had imagined for myself.”
Kumar was outed in his FSI Nagpur office by his disgruntled ex-boyfriend. Kumar alleges that on finding out that he is gay, the Regional Director of FSI Nagpur, Mr Chaturbhuja Behera, sought sexual favours from Kumar, which he opposed. Kumar was then transferred to FSI Kolkata.
Prior to the transfer, Kumar met with an accident. FSI Nagpur did not release emergency medical fund. This led to Kumar developing a locomotor disability. The FSI Kolkata office building does not have a working elevator, so Kumar is unable to access his assigned workplace. He rightfully requested disability assistance, but it was denied.
The accused, Regional Director Chatrabhuja Behera, in a letter to Kumar, has denied all his allegations and said that Kumar is hallucinating. Kumar said, “Mr Behera has demonised me in the entire office. He wants everyone to believe that I’ve lost my mental balance. My colleagues, who were friendly and supportive earlier, stopped talking to me. Maybe they are scared of retaliation, too.”
FSI Nagpur has conveniently lost Kumar’s personal file, which contains all his employment and performance details. FSI is neither paying Kumar nor firing him from the job, which is limiting the legal remedies that he can avail.
Hoping to get justice, Kumar has met the Minister of Forest Bhupender Yadav and got letters from Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, and other MPs and MLAs. “Any politician I speak with initially shows sympathy towards me, but when my office tells them that I am gay and not to entertain me, their attitude towards me suddenly changes. It is as if they do not want a gay man to work in a government office”, said Kumar.
He has approached the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), National Commission of Other Backward Classes, Court of Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities and other bodies but has received no relief. None of these bodies recognised the homophobic harassment that Kumar has been facing. “I had never imagined that my parents retirement savings would be spent on fighting this homophobic system. My parents are supportive, but seeing me struggle for so long is taking a toll on their health. It breaks my heart”, shares Kumar.
“I don’t look the same as I used to look before all this happened. Any hopes of finding a partner, in a society obsessed with looks, are over. I am on a vanvaas alone, and I don’t know when it will end. My will to live is hanging by a thread. But I will not give up”, Kumar asserts his unbreakable resolution to get justice.
Kumar is currently looking for a Bombay High Court lawyer who can help him pro bono till he receives his dues and salary. If you are a lawyer or a media person and wish to take up this case, please email yesweexistindia@gmail.com
Featured image has been created by the author.