Major J Suresh speaks up on Onir’s script on his life being rejected by defence ministry

His blog on coming out as a homosexual person created a stir in 2020. And now, ex-Indian Army officer Major J Suresh finds himself making headlines again. Filmmaker Onir’s script about a gay Army officer, inspired by Suresh’s life, has been rejected by the defence ministry, signalling that the LGBTQI+ community is yet to find full acceptance in India.

Suresh says he is “trying to avoid sensationalising this current controversy” given its sensitive nature when we get in touch with him. “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 to marriage, to adoption, inheritance for partners etc,” he further adds.

Having lost his father to Covid-19 in May 2020, he says he has more responsibilities towards his mother and brother right now. “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,” says the ex-Indian Army officer.

He further shares that he tried to look for support in 2020, but couldn’t find it, and now he finds himself in very different circumstances.

Ask him what does he feel about Onir’s script being rejected, and what exactly needs to be changed, and he says, “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. 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.”