HimVani
Rekong Peo: Kinnauri youths on Friday held protests against the use the work ‘Kinner’ for eunuchs in Madhur Bhandarkar’s film Traffic Signal. They termed it an insult on their rich and proud culture, and vowed to stop the screening of the film. On the other hand, Kinnauri intellectuals and historians have decided to seek legal action in the matter.
Prominent Himachali writer S R Harnot, who has written over 10 books including one on the history and culture of Kinnaur, in a talk with HimVani, said an action committee was being formed to file a PIL in the Himachal High Court against the wrong use of the word. Significantly, as per Harnot, when Bhandarkar was contacted on the issue, his private secretary on his behalf had reasoned that the word ‘Kinner’ was frequently used for eunuchs and there was nothing wrong in it.
Earlier, the Himachal Pradesh Assembly too had a discussion on stopping the use of word ‘Kinner’ for eunuchs way back in 2001. Recently, even the electronic media was criticised for using the word ‘Kinner’ for eunuchs in Madhya Pradesh.