The NCERT opened a can of worms recently after it published a training manual for teachers with the objective of sensitizing “teachers and teacher educators regarding aspects of gender diversity keeping gender-nonconforming and transgender children at centre stage.” The document espoused numerous ‘woke’ ideas, which was not taken kindly by people on the internet.
Since then, the document has been pulled down from the NCERT website but the controversy surrounding it has still not died. One of the major figures in this controversy has been an individual called Vikramaditya Sahai (or Vqueeram, preferred pronouns are They/Them). This journalist discovered that Sahai, who was on the NCERT team that produced the training manual, was sharing semi-nude photographs of themself on Instagram.
The ideological inclinations of Vikramaditya Sahai
Since then, videos have emerged where Vqueeram can be seen making extremely controversial comments. In one video from the past, the activist could be heard making extremely derogatory comments about the Hindu community. They said that there was nothing proud in being a Hindu or in being a man.
In another video, Vikramaditya Sahai speaks of Rohit Vemula’s “beautiful suicide note”.
Vqueeram also appears to have rather problematic opinions on gender. According to them, gender is the “root cause” of all trouble. Gender is also violence, apparently.
Given that Vikramaditya Sahai has such an ideological predisposition, it is fair to ask if such a person should play any role in the education of our children. It is also completely fair to ask if a person who posts semi-nude photographs of themself on social media should influence the education curriculum in our country.
Needless to say, such criticism has nothing to do with the person’s gender but their own conduct. People wouldn’t want, and with good reason, someone who harbours such problematic opinions about a religious community and gender to have any say in children’s education.
Nonetheless, LGBT activists made the criticism all about the person’s gender and accused this journalist of perpetrating a “brutal attack” against the activist. A Twitter handle, Dalit Camera, with over forty thousand followers on the platform, claimed that this journalist indulged in “body shaming” and “trolling Vqueeram’s politics against caste and gender-based violence”.
The accusations are quite perplexing as all this journalist did was point out that people who post semi-nude photographs of themself on social media, and harbour ostensibly hateful opinions about Hindus, should not have a say in the education of children. But that was twisted to claim that @YearOfTheKraken indulged in a transphobic attack against Vqueeram.
Since then, NCERT has pulled down the training manual from its website after the NCPCR took cognizance of the matter. One senior Ministry of Education official under the condition of anonymity told Hindustan Times, “The NCERT has informed the ministry that the document was still under process and it was inadvertently uploaded on the website. The council will provide the required response to the NCPCR. The manual has been drafted by the department of gender studies at the NCERT with all due considerations.”
Allegations level by Gaysi Family regarding Vqueeram
After the Hindustan Times report apprising readers of the latest development in the matter, Gaysi Family, a media platform that describes itself as a “safe space for Desi Queers to share their stories”, launched another set of allegations against this journalist.
Gaysi Family wrote in a post, which at the time of writing this report received over 2,500 ‘likes’ on Instagram, “One troll, whose handle is @YearOfTheKraken, was particularly committed to the smear campaign against Vqueeram. @YearOfTheKraken, who, of course, is enjoying the immunity by being a nameless and faceless figure on social media, is using “shame” and “respectability” politics to vilify and question Vqueeram’s work by posting pictures from the latter’s Instagram account.”
The allegations of a ‘smear campaign’ against Sahai are especially stunning since all this journalist did was share photographs on Twitter that Sahai had themself shared on their public profile (made private since then) on Instagram. The videos of Sahai that this journalist brought attention to are of statements that the activist has themself made to the media.
Quite clearly, the real problem appears to be that the activist is receiving criticism for his public conduct and not much else. It is bizarre that even legitimate criticism is being slandered by attaching baseless sinister motivations to it. In fact, the way the community pages have gone all guns blazing against this journalist, it appears more like a smear campaign against him for bringing to light what is the uncomfortable truth.
The real objective: Shut down criticism of Vikramaditya Sahai because Vqueeram is transgender
Vikramaditya Sahai is a public figure. They is an associated the Centre for Law and Policy Research. Formerly, they has been a faculty at the Gender Studies Department of Ambedkar University. They was also an external team member of the NCERT team that produced the training manual for teachers.
As a public figure, journalists have every right to criticise their conduct in public. The allegations of ‘transphobia’ are being used to shut down criticism of the individual on very legitimate grounds. People have every right to question the NCERT for appointing a person with extremely problematic opinions to a team that would decide the education of children.
It is not transphobic to assert that people who post semi-nude photographs of themself should not be influencing the education of students. It is not transphobic to say that an individual with palpable animosity towards Hindus and men should not have an influence over the education curriculum.
All such allegations are merely a ruse to shut down all criticism. And they will be resisted accordingly.