Asia (Page 3,214)

While India waits for the Supreme Court’s verdict on legalising same-sex marriage, an LGBTQ couple’s recent wedding in the northern state of Punjab has made headlines – and also created controversy.

Dimple, 27 – who uses the pronoun he – and Manisha, 21, married in Bathinda city on 18 September with the blessings of their families – something that’s highly unusual in a conservative country like India.

But what was even more unusual was that their marriage was solemnised in a gurdwara – a Sikh temple – with the bride and groom performing all traditional rituals.

The wedding has been criticised by some religious leaders, including Sikhism’s highest priest Giani Raghbir Singh who declared that “same-sex marriage was unnatural and contrary to Sikh ethics”.

The marriage of two women in the presence of Guru Granth Sahib – the holy Sikh scripture – was “a severe moral and religious violation”, he said, and instructed the Bathinda gurdwara committee to suspend priest Hardev Singh, who conducted the marriage, and three others from their duties until further notice.

Hardev Singh has since been removed from his position. In his defence, he said that he couldn’t figure out that both the bride and the groom were female as one of the women was wearing a turban.

Dimple has questioned the claim, saying that they had provided copies of their identity proof to the gurdwara so there was no reason for confusion.

Dimple is from Mansa district while Manisha is from Bathinda – both are remote areas where LGBTQ+ rights are rarely ever discussed in public. Dimple, an upper-caste Jatt Sikh, and Manisha, a Dalit Hindu, met at a garment factory in Zirakpur, a town near Punjab’s capital Chandigarh, where they both worked.

When I met them a few days after their wedding, they looked like any happy newly-wed couple. The couple told me that their Anand Karaj (or Sikh wedding ceremony) was attended by nearly 70 relatives.

In their wedding photographs and videos, Dimple appears dressed as a traditional Sikh groom with the customary garland of flowers tied to his maroon turban, while his bride Manisha is wearing a maroon and gold tunic, salwar bottoms and a silk scarf and both her arms are covered with red bangles.

Dimple, who mostly dresses in a shirt and trousers and keeps his hair short, says when he told his parents that he had no interest in boys, they understood and “extended their support, expressing joy in his happiness”.

An only child, he once contemplated gender reassignment surgery and even consulted a doctor, but decided against it as his parents were concerned about the procedure’s outcomes.

It was in 2017 after he moved to Zirakpur for work that he became more aware of LGBTQ+ issues. “There, I met like-minded friends who understood my situation and I also gained awareness from YouTube,” he says.

Manisha, says Dimple, wasn’t his first love. “I was in a relationship with a girl for five years. Earlier this year, we broke up. Then I dated another girl for three-four months, but that also didn’t work out.”

Manisha, who was then a co-worker and a friend, often helped him resolve his differences with his girlfriend.

“That’s when I realised that Manisha could be a better partner for me. She also enjoyed my company, we grew closer and had long chats. So, we officially became a couple a month ago,” says Dimple.

Manisha says he proposed to her over the phone just three or four days after they began their relationship, adding that she readily accepted. “A women needs a life partner who understands her, respects her, showers her with love, and treats her like a child.”

But it did take some effort to convince her parents that she wanted to marry Dimple.

“My mother told me it’s not possible to marry a girl. Eventually, I convinced her that if she wanted my happiness, then she had to let me marry who I wanted. Once she agreed, she also persuaded my father.”

Their parents then met and the wedding date was finalised. As Dimple is a practising Sikh, his parents say he wanted to marry following Sikh rituals so they approached the gurdwara priest.

The couple insist that they never hid their identities and show the marriage certificate Bathinda gurdwara committee has issued them.

India decriminalised gay sex in 2018, but same-sex marriages still lack official recognition. The Supreme Court recently heard a slew of petitions seeking marriage equality and judgement is due soon.

So at the moment, a same-sex marriage is not legal in India which means that Dimple and Manisha cannot access rights enjoyed by heterosexual married couples, but at the same time, experts say it is not considered a felony.

But the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, the apex religious body of Sikhism says it is investigating if there have been any violations of religious codes.

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The president of South Korea will pay a state visit to the UK in November after accepting an invitation from King Charles III.

The King and Queen Camilla will host Yoon Suk-yeol and his wife Kim Keon Hee at Buckingham Palace.

It will be the second incoming state visit of the King’s reign, following South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa’s stay last year.

The King and Queen have just returned from a three-day state visit to France.

Mr Yoon, 62, visited the US in April when he sang a verse of Don McLean’s American Pie – one of his favourite songs – at a White House dinner at the request of President Joe Biden.

He received rapturous applause from the audience before the US president presented him with a guitar signed by McLean.

The trip also saw Mr Yoon secure a landmark deal with the US to counter the North Korean nuclear threat.

The details of his UK state visit have not been released, but the trip will most probably follow convention with a ceremonial welcome and carriage procession to Buckingham Palace, followed by a state banquet on the first evening.

Around 150 guests are usually invited to the formal affair in the ballroom. Before dinner is served, the King makes a speech and proposes a toast to the visiting head of state, who replies and in return proposes a toast to the monarch.

The King and the South Korean president met previously at the reception for heads of state and official overseas guests at the palace on the eve of Elizabeth II’s funeral.

But Mr Yoon was criticised across the South Korean political spectrum for not visiting the late queen’s coffin lying in state – which he blamed on heavy traffic.

The King expressed his condolences to the people of South Korea following the Itaewon Halloween crowd crush in 2022, when more than 150 people were killed in Seoul’s party district.

As Prince of Wales, King Charles was a key guest at a state banquet hosted by the late queen for the then-South Korean leader Roh Moo-hyun in 2004.

The King also visited South Korea in November 1992 with his then-wife, Diana, Princess of Wales.

Foreign monarchs, presidents or prime ministers are invited to visit the UK by the King on the advice of the British government.

State visits are not just ceremonial affairs – they are also diplomatic tools governments use to further what they see as the British national interests.

Visitors to the UK normally meet with the British prime minister, government ministers and leaders of the main political parties.

They may attend another banquet hosted by the Lord Mayor and City of London Corporation, where they will meet leaders of commerce and industry.

“Even though I watched my mum battle from a young age, I never used to check my breasts. We didn’t even talk about it.”

When Sonia Bhandal was 14, her mum passed away from breast cancer, six years after being diagnosed. Then, when she was 27, Sonia found out she had the same cancer.

Cancer can be a tricky issue to discuss in the Asian community – and when it comes to breast cancer there is added stigma.

Sonia feels Asian women face added pressures when they have a long-term illness because their marriage or fertility prospects are often questioned.

“I was dating during my treatment and remember being super-ill, fresh out of hospital and an aunt saying ‘will his parents accept you?’,” she tells BBC Asian Network.

“I was already just trying to survive day by day and to have questions about my future, my marriage and fertility from people close to you, it’s heartbreaking.

“And that’s why people don’t want to talk about it, because they don’t want their aunt or anyone else to give these opinions.”

Research by Breast Cancer Now suggests there is a lower uptake of breast screening among south Asians, which means they are often diagnosed at a later stage and have reduced survival rates than white women.

It suggested cultural and language barriers could play a part in this.

“There are barriers around talking about breasts in the community and checking breasts is often seen as a sexual thing,” says Manveet Basra, the charity’s associate director of public health.

“There’s fear around cancer generally and a feeling of fatalism.

“So some cultural or religious beliefs that a cancer diagnosis is off the back of a sin from a past life and karma.”

Sonia says she was “getting a lot of pain in my breast” before she discovered she had inherited an altered gene called BRCA that increased her risk of developing breast cancer.

Both her mum and aunt had previously died from the disease.

“I rolled over in bed and my arm scraped my breast and it felt like a stone,” she says.

“I just burst into tears, my gut just knew what it was.”

Having that particular gene also means there is a higher than average chance of the cancer returning, and put Sonia at increased risk of cervical cancer too.

So she opted to have a double mastectomy – having both breasts removed – because she “didn’t want to risk having to go through chemo again”.

Sania Ahmed is a doctor trying to use her platform to raise awareness of how breast cancer is perceived in the south Asian community.

“I was 24 years old when I was diagnosed and it felt like I was labelled with a life sentence,” she says.

“Women in our culture don’t prioritise their health. And because the breast is seen as a private area, breast examination [often] doesn’t exist.

“I’ve grown up in a loving Muslim family but women are still seen as fulfilling the role of a wife and having kids.”

Sania says she tries to use her role in the community to encourage better healthcare.

“As a doctor, I’m always encouraging my patients to check their breasts,” she says.

“If something feels odd then just get it looked at.”

For Dipika Saggi, breast cancer wasn’t something she had dealt with in her immediate family.

She had a “shooting pain” during the Covid pandemic and her GP referred her for a biopsy straight away.

Dipika, who was 35 at the time, was then told she was already “quite far along”, with the tumour being at 8cm.

“It was a rapid emotional rollercoaster of confusion, pain and acceptance,” she says.

“You don’t think you can get cancer when you’re young. Maybe that’s why I got help a lot later.”

Dipika says some comments from people around her also made things harder, including references to karma or “God’s will”.

“I often heard from elders ‘everything happens for a reason’ or ‘God only challenges his strongest’ and I would think ‘so you think God thinks I deserve to have cancer?'” she says.

Manveet feels younger members of the community like Sonia, Dipika and Sania can help to change mindsets.

“Being breast aware, knowing the signs and symptoms can potentially help you and others in your family,” she says.

If you are affected by issues raised in this article, help and support is available via the BBC Action Line You can get more information on breast cancer screening here.

Listen to Ankur Desai’s show on BBC Asian Network live from 15:00-18:00 Monday to Thursday – or listen back here.