A Kinsey-style report on the Indian community in Oz

BY JYOTI SHANKAR

In 1948, Alfred Kinsey created a furore with his ground-breaking research into the sexuality of human males. Now Vijay Ramanathan, an Indian researcher at Sydney University, has embarked on researching the sexual health of Indian male migrants, a subject of farreaching implications for the migrant group and the way it assimilates into its adopted culture.

“Sexuality is the core component of being human. It is not just the act of sex, but also about how you think and how you relate to others,” says Vijay.

According to him, sexual behaviour is determined by a number of factors ranging from the place where you have spent most of your life, culture, religion, family values, health, your interaction with others in the community, amongst a host of other factors.

Vijay’s research aims to study if these factors indeed impact Indian migrants and how, as well as the areas of life they impact on, and the implications this has for the health and happiness of Indian origin men. It is also a topic that is not frankly or seriously discussed among the Indian community, though his preliminary studies show that it does have a great impact on migrants from the Indian sub-continent as they undergo the process of acculturation into this new society.

When people of different cultures are thrown together, there is a process of change and transference that occurs between both, followed by a process of adjustment and acceptance. Sociologists define acculturation as the process of adopting the cultural traits or social patterns of another group. It may manifest as Assimilation which is a strong identification with the host culture and society, and a weak identification with their ancestry; Integration, which is when an individual combines a strong dedication to their origin, but also a commitment and conformity to the host society; Marginalisation, which manifests in a weak dedication to or strong detachment from, both the host culture and the culture of origin; and, Separation, wherein the migrant shows an exclusive commitment to the culture of origin even after years of migration, with weak involvement in the host culture. (Source –inter-cultural models, John Berry).

Now we have all observed our friends and acquaintances, and possibly ourselves too, exhibiting such varying degrees of acculturation. Vijay says that not all people acculturate in the same manner or to the same extent, and the impact of this on sexual health is what interests him.

Because of taboos associated with issues around sexual health, people often seek help and information from dubious sources.

Vijay says that because of this, people are conned into bogus remedies and made to part with large sums of money with a promise of instant solutions. But there is no instant solution for sexual problems – sexual infections could be contained with medicines, but one needs to explore the deeper issues of the problem. The problem of erectile dysfunction is not just a physiological problem of lack of blood supply to the area, but is often the precursor of cardiovascular problems. It could be because of issues relating to weight and obesity.

Vijay, a registered medical practitioner in India moved to Sydney in 2005 to do his Masters in Medicine, specialising in sexually transmitted infections (STI) and HIV medicine. He got interested in sexual behaviours when he realised that to control STI and HIV, which was a product of sexual behaviour, he would first need to understand these behaviours. Sydney University is a world leader in the field sexual health education, he says. He decided to stay on to do a PhD in Sexual Health of Indian Migrant Men Living in Australia. This thesis aims to study the impacts of migration on attitudes toward human sexuality, sexual behaviours and sexual health of Indian men living in Australia.

“Many doctors can treat a sexual infection, but I am more interested in examining the issue holistically and understanding how I can help people to improve their general health,” Vijay explains.

Vijay wears a few hats as he works towards his doctoral thesis – he works for Central Sydney GP Network Ltd which provides education and support to general practitioners. He also is an Accredited Sexuality Therapist, practising at Bondi Junction and is an honorary lecturer at the Sydney University. He also runs an online service via www. sexualhealthindia.com, where people can access unbiased and non-judgemental information on matters of sexual health. “Always look for credibility when you access information over the internet,” says Vijay. “Earlier there was the problem of lack of information, but these days it is the other way around – a lot of it, but much of it may be wrong. There are no instant cures, people do need to realise this and not fall into a trap.”

When asked why his study is restricted to men, Vijay explained that the first stage of his research was speaking to a focus group in which 25 men participated, and being a male investigator, he was not comfortable talking about sexuality to women. A female colleague of his is now replicating the same study with South Asian women. A majority of the men in the focus group were Indians who are the major South-Asian group in Sydney, but the findings could possibly be generalised to migrants from South Asia. “Themes we got from the focus group suggested that acculturation is influencing a change in attitudes. To collect more quantitative data we are doing the online survey wherein we can get objective validated tools to prove this,” says Vijay.

He is looking to collect surveys from a sample of four to six hundred Indians (readers can participate anonymously at http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/ WEB22BE4RHXXRL) from about 200,000 males living in Australia. It covers a range of topics about sexual behaviour, attitudes, perceptions and help-seeking behaviours.

Following this research, Vijay hopes to use its learning to implement a plan to improve the health of migrants. “I want my PhD tied to community welfare and I want to see how this research can be transferred to the Indian community of 20 million Indian across the globe,” he asserts. He wants patients to get educated and thus empowered.

Vijay has post-doctoral work also lined up – researching how religion and media influence attitudes and behaviour. He also believes that there is a wealth of information in Hindu literature, but it is not expressed in a way that a lay person can understand. Everyone has heard about the book Kama Sutra but how many of us can claim to have read it, I wondered. Vijay believes that Kama Sutra is a fantastic guide to sensual satisfaction in a mindful way. “Sexuality is about thinking (which is about love), expressing (which is about eroticism) and doing (the actual sex act). Medical doctors and the scientific world do not speak enough about the pleasure aspect, about how to increase bonding,” he says.

Simplifying the Kama Sutra - that’s another project in the offing for Vijay, it seems!

WikiLeaks: LeT planned to kill Modi, set up bases in south India

Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-eTaiba (LeT), blamed for Mumbai terror attack, had planned to assassinate Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and use Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu as a strike base in southern India, a leaked US diplomatic cable reveals.

A June 19, 2009 secret State Department cable signed (Secretary of State Hillary) Clinton released by whistleblower site WikiLeaks also suggests a dangerously expanding LeT network in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

The cable is marked “NOFORN”, shorthand for not to be shared with foreign governments.

“India - LT member Shafiq Khafa possibly preparing for operations: Tearline reports, & Hussein, an India-based Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LT) member, continued operational planning on three tasks in early June,” the secret intelligence cable relating to terrorist activities around the world read.

“The tasks were associated with a possible operation against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendar Modi, the establishment of a training camp, and unspecified work involving a car. Hussein would coordinate his activities with an India-based colleague identified as Sameer,” it said.

“Separate tearline indicates, &Pakistanbased Shafiq Khafa prepared in mid-June with India-based associate S J for possible operations in India. Khafa was looking for information on possible training sites in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala,” it said.

“19. (S//NF) DS/TIA/ITA notes earlier credible tearline suggests Khafa’s network is striving to stand up two teams in southern India that rely on the support of LT members based in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Nepal,” another paragraph of the cable read.

“Although specific details of planned LT attacks remain unknown, late-May intelligence indicates Khafa’s cells were engaged in surveillance activities of potential targets, likely in southern India.

“Early-May reporting further suggests Kerala or Tamil Nadu may be used as a base of operations following the establishment of a facilitation team in Sri Lanka, with the estimated time of completion for setting up the facilitation route and camps to be two to three months,” the cable said.

India complained about China’s aggressive approach to US: WikiLeaks

China’s “newly pugnacious” foreign policy is “losing friends worldwide” and India has voiced concerns to Washington about Beijing’s “aggressive approach”, says a US diplomatic cable released by the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks.

The leaked diplomatic cables, which were published in Guardian, revealed that the Indian government had complained to US about China’s aggressiveness.

The cable, sent by US ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, had said that Indian ambassador to Beijing S. Jaishankar had sought closer co-operation with the US because of “China’s more aggressive approach”.

It’s not just India which objected to Chinese assertiveness.

“Numerous third-country diplomats have complained to us that dealing with China has become more difficult in the past year,” said another cable sent by Huntsman.

In another cable, Huntsman has described a Japanese official’s complaint about “the increased aggressiveness of Chinese ‘coast guard’ and naval units which had provoked ‘many dangerous encounters’ with Japanese civilian and self-defence force ships”.

The Chinese assertiveness has been a subject of conversation between India and the US at various levels in the last few months.

It was discussed between the two sides during US President Barack Obama’s visit to India last month, said sources. The disclosure comes days before Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao comes to India on an official visit.

Kamala Harris is California attorney general

Four weeks after election day, Democrat Kamala Harris, daughter of an African American father and Indian Tamil mother, finally sealed a narrow but historic win making her the first woman attorney general of California.

“I stand before you today humbled to be chosen to be the next attorney general of this state,” Harris said, her voice breaking with emotion as she spoke to supporters at the Millennium Biltmore in downtown Los Angeles.

“I pledge and make a pledge to work hard every day to make sure the law of this state is on the side of the people of this state,” she was quoted as saying by the Los Angeles Times.

Harris, 46, currently the San Francisco district attorney, defeated Republican Steve Cooley, Los Angeles County’s district attorney, who had prematurely claimed victory on election night, only to concede the race after weeks of ballot counting gave Harris a slim lead.

Born and raised in the East Bay, Harris is the daughter of an African American father and Shyamala Gopalan, a Tamilian breast cancer specialist who came to the US from Chennai, to pursue her graduate studies at the University of California Berkeley.

In December 2003, she became the first woman to be elected District Attorney in San Francisco’s history.

A recipient of numerous awards, she was recognized as a ‘Woman of Power’ by the National Urban League and received the Thurgood Marshall Award from the National Black Prosecutors Association.

She has also been featured on the Oprah show and in “America’s 20 Most Powerful Women.”

Last year, she was named by the New York Times most likely to become the first lady President.

Harris’ win cemented a Democratic sweep of every statewide post in California, a remarkable feat in a year when Democrats suffered deep losses in the rest of the nation.

Harris, who has pledged to follow the law in capital-punishment cases despite her personal views, cast herself as “smart on crime” and called for new approaches aimed at reducing recidivism and prison overcrowding.

Asked to reflect on the meaning of her historic win - as the first woman, African American and Indian American elected to the post - Harris smiled brightly and said, “We’ll see!”

She will succeed Attorney General Jerry Brown, former Oakland Mayor and California Governor, who made another run for Governor this year and won again.

2G Spectrum Scam

Barely had the dust from the Commonwealth Games expose settled that the nation was shocked by the 2G spectrum scam that resulted in the resignation of Communications and IT Minister A Raja and could potentially be a political setback for the Congressled United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

The issue dates to 2008 when nine telecom companies were issued scarce airwaves and licenses for second generation (2G) mobile phone services at Rs 1,658 crore (less than $350 million) for a pan-India operation. As many as 122 circle-wise licenses were issued.

The Opposition said that by giving the airwaves cheap, that too in the controversial manner of first-cum-firstserved basis, the exchequer had lost billions of dollars. The cut-off date for applications was also arbitrarily advanced.

Later, based on the auction of airwaves for third generation (3G) services, which got nearly $15 billion to the exchequer, and that for broadband access, which fetched over $8.5 billion, the notional loss was estimated at $38 billion to the exchequer.

But Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself defended Raja’s decision and said that all that his Communications Minister had done was to implement a policy already in place and none of the norms were flouted.

The opposition further stepped up its attack with two examples on 2G auction:

* A new player, Swan Telecom, bought licenses for 13 circles with the necessary spectrum for $340 million but managed to sell a 45-per cent stake in the company to UAE’s Etisalat for $900 million. This swelled its valuation to $2 billion without a single subscriber.

* Another new player, Unitech, paid $365 million as license fee but sold a 60-per cent stake to Norway’s Talenor for $1.36 billion, taking its valuation to nearly $2 billion, again without a single subscriber.

Similarly, another licensor, Datacom, later became Videocon Mobile and Stel now has a large stake by Baharian Telecom. The other companies are Tata Tele, Idea Cellular, Loop Telecom, Shyam Telelink and Spice.

Recently the Supreme Court asked the solicitor general why the Prime Minister had not responded to the representation by the Opposition to sanction proceedings against Raja.

The final blow came after the Comptroller and Auditor General of India said the entire process of spectrum allocation was undertaken in an arbitrary manner and that the advice of the industry watchdog was ignored and misused.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its report on the 2G spectrum scam indicted Telecom Minister A Raja in the scandal and said the allocation was doctored to benefit a few operators. According to the CAG report, Raja ignored advice from everyone including the Finance Ministry regarding allocations. The report said that Raja’s decision cost the government over Rs 90,000 crore-1,40,000 crore.

On November 14, yielding to relentless Opposition pressure, Communications and Information Technology Minister A. Raja resigned from the Union Cabinet in the wake of the 2G spectrum allocation scam.

“In order to avoid embarrassment to the government and maintain peace and harmony in Parliament, my leader [DMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi] has advised me to resign,” Mr. Raja said.

HRD minister Kapil Sibal was given the additional charge of the telecom ministry by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a development that takes the portfolio away from DMK at least for the time being.

The Supreme Court even asked the Centre to file an affidavit on Manmohan Singh’s “alleged inaction” on a plea seeking sanction to prosecute ex-telecom minister A Raja in the 2G spectrum scam case, calling the matter “extremely serious”.

Manmohan Singh turned to Attorney General GE Vahanvati to represent him at the apex court over why he failed to probe the 2G telecom scandal. The Prime Minister faced questions in the Supreme Court over his handling of an alleged multi-billion dollar telecom scam as Parliament remained paralyzed over demands by the Opposition for a full probe.

Refraining from any direct personal remarks on the 2G spectrum scam, the Prime Minister said no one found guilty of wrong-doing will be spared, and urged all political parties to let parliament function and carry forward the due process.

“We are ready to discuss all issues in Parliament. We are not afraid of discussion,” the PM said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi in what were his first public comments on the 2G spectrum scam.

“I can state that various aspects of this are being looked into by the respective investigating agencies in their domain of interest,” he said. “But there should not be any doubt in anybody’s mind if any wrong thing has been done by anybody, he or she will be brought to book. For all this to happen, in a democracy, I think, we have to allow parliament to function,” he said. “It is my humble request to all parties to let parliament work.”

The 2G spectrum saga has crippled Parliament since then as the Opposition refused to give up its demand for a parliamentary probe into the scandal that has even enveloped the Prime Minister’s Office. The Opposition was not satisfied with the resignation of DMK leader A. Raja as Communications Minister