PROFESSORS HOUNDED OUT FOR BEING GAY.

EVEN a year after the Delhi High Court decriminalised homosexuality, fossilised mindsets continue to make life difficult for the gay and lesbian community. Two widely reported cases this year -- the alleged suicide by Aligarh Muslim University's ( AMU) linguistics professor S. R. Siras and the sacking of IIT- Hyderabad professor Ashley Tellis -- brought home this harsh reality. A recap:

ARCHAIC AMU

FEBRUARY 8, 2010 Professor Shrinivas Ramchandra Siras, the head of department of AMU's Modern Indian Languages, is caught on camera having consensual sex with a male rickshaw- puller.

The video is made by two men who forced themselves into his house

FEBRUARY 9 The videographers -- Adil Murtaza and Sirat -- forward the footage to AMU authorities, and Siras is fired for " gross misconduct". AMU PRO, Rahat Abrar, says: " Siras was captured on camera having sex with a rickshaw- puller. It's a scandal no institution of repute can overlook. He was, therefore, placed under suspension by the order of the vice- chancellor, professor P. K. Abdul Aziz"

APRIL 7 The professor, 62, is found dead. He is suspected to have committed suicide

APRIL 19 Murtaza and Sirat, who said they were conducting a sting on the professor, are arrested on charges of forcibly entering his house and causing him physical harm

REGRESSIVE IIT

JUNE 2, 2010 IIT- Hyderabad's management sacks gay rights activist and assistant professor in the liberal arts department Ashley Tellis. Its top honchos were apparently uncomfortable about his sexual orientation. His stints at Bombay University, where he taught in 1991, and later at St Stephen's College, DU, also had been rocky -- he had quit both jobs after being mired in controversies JUNE 11 Tellis files RTI appeal seeking reasons for his sudden sacking. He plans to slug it out with the management

-- Saumya Pant

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Publication:	Mail Today (New Delhi, India)
Date:	Jul 2, 2010
Words:	311
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