Facebook deletes pic of 'Sikh man kissing another man'; post it again

New Delhi, Dec 19: As the protesters worldwide gathered to observe a "Global Day of Rage" on Sunday to vent their anger on the Supreme Court's 'shocking' verdict on criminalising homosexuality, a Sikh man landed himself in a 'gay pic controversy'.

32-year-old Kanwar Anit Singh Saini, a speech-language pathologist and a producer-DJ-artist in Toronto, went a step further in showing solidarity in Toronto, with other gay protesters against 'Section 377 that criminalises gay sex in India' and posted his picture of 'kissing another man' named Shazad Syed Hai, on the social networking website Facebook at his page called 'Sikh Knowledge'.

Saini's picture reportedly got more than 1, 000 likes and 80 shares. Some supported Saini's bold move while many wrote comments crticising him.

Saini's picture got more than 1, 000 likes and 80 shares.

Soon, the picture went viral and sparked a debate over LGBT rightsd and Sikhism. Then, the Facebook authorities on Monday not only deleted the controversial picture of Saini, but also suspended his account for 12 hours saying it "breached their terms and policies".

The 'outraged' Saini, then, posted the same pic on other social media sites like Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr and also lashed out at the Facebook's screening policy.

The pic was later shared on Twitter by many of his followers and at the same time, many others critcised Facebook's policies of deleting content.

However, after 12 hours, Facebook again 'reposted' the pic and told Buzzfeed that "the photo was "mistakenly removed and has been reinstated. We apologize for the inconvenience."

While talking to Buzzfeed, Saini said, "I got fans I want to reach out to ‘cause of this whole 377 thing, and not to mention all the ‘phobes spewing crap at me. The thread under the image was full of love and hate speech. It was SO important to see that banter and to have that visible."

Thousands of activists had gathered in over 30 cities across the world on Sunday to observe the 'Global Day of Rage'. Here are some of the pics from across various cities of India, where the protests were held:

In Mumbai

Members of LGBT community during a protest held against Supreme Court's recent verdict on section 377 of IPC, in Mumbai.

In Mumbai

Actress Celina Jaitley during a protest held by LGBT people against Supreme Court's recent verdict on section 377 of IPC, in Mumbai.

In Kolkata

Activists of LGBT shouting slogans in a demonstration during Global Day of Rage and protest against Supreme Court's verdict in Kolkata.

In Kolkata

An LGBT activist protests during 'Global Day of Rage' against Supreme Court's recent verdict on section 377 of IPC, in Kolkata.

In New Delhi

LGBT activists protest against Supreme Court's judgement on Section 377 at Jantar Mantar, in New Delhi.

In New Delhi

LGBT activists protest against Supreme Court's judgement on Section 377 at Jantar Mantar, in New Delhi.

In New Delhi

Sitarist Anoushka Shankar with her husband Joe Wright during the LGBT activists protest against Supreme Court's judgement on Section 377 at Jantar Mantar, in New Delhi

OneIndia News