Sonia, PC root for gay rights, law may change

Friday, 13/12/2013

http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

NEW DELHI: Leading the charge against an “archaic and repressive” law that criminalises gay sex, top Congress leaders, including Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, on Thursday came out strongly against a Supreme Court judgment upholding this law. Stirred into action, the government was contemplating an ordinance to reverse the impact of the verdict.

The ruling party’s clear stand also appeared to have caught the BJP off-guard with the opposition party refusing to make its view clear and instead, demanding an all-party meeting to ascertain if there was political unanimity on reversing the SC judgment.

In a shock decision, the top court on Wednesday set aside a 2009 Delhi high court verdict that had effectively de-criminalised gay sex between consenting adults in private. The SC ruled that the lower court had overstepped its authority and the 1860 law was still valid.

Government sources indicated an ordinance could be brought to amend section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, under which conviction attracts a maximum sentence of life in prison. However, this could happen only after Parliament’s winter session gets over next week.

This bold new Congress is a departure from its old ‘safe’ self. The firmness is an expansion of its inclusive politics, which now includes sexual minorities. It is also in tune with Rahul’s outof-the-box initiatives. Congress old guards are already murmuring in protest, though none may come out openly.

Finance minister P Chidambaram said the Supreme Court verdict was “wrong” and all options would be looked into to set it right.

Also expressing disappointment at the ruling, Sonia said, “The high court had wisely removed an archaic, represssive and unjust law that infringed on the basic human rights enshrined in the Constitution. I hope Parliament will address this issue.”

The Aam Aadmi Party said the behaviour of consenting adults cannot be left at the mercy of the police. However, other parties chose to remain silent. “Homosexuality is nothing but perversion and moral degradation and should never be allowed in our society. We are very happy with the [Supreme Court] verdict”. There is no point identifying the speaker because it doesn’t matter: after all, he was only echoing the thoughts of many other religious leaders — ranging from the Hindu spiritual groups, the Muslim Personal Law Board, the Utkal Christian Council and the Apostolic Churches Alliance — who had moved the Supreme Court against a Delhi High Court order decriminalising gay sex. In a landmark judgment in July 2009, the Delhi High Court had excluded adult consensual gay sex, conducted in private, from the scope of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. Wednesday’s judgment of the two-judge bench headed by Justice GS Singhvi revived the penal provision making gay sex an offence punishable with life imprisonment and threw the ball into Parliament’s court for amending the law.

By supporting the SC ruling, the spiritual leaders seem to believe that they have the sole authority on the issue to speak for their constituencies. But in reality, they don’t. In fact, just after the news broke, many came out against the order — and they were not just from the “minuscule” gay section. The social media was agog with discussions on the ruling and there was anger against the ruling and many pointed out that there is nothing “un-Indian” in being a homosexual.

Even as this debate ensued in the country, there were some spiritual voices that spoke against the order: Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said on Wednesday that homosexuality had never been considered a crime in Hindu culture. On Twitter, he wrote that “Homosexuality has never been considered a crime in Hindu culture. In fact, Lord Ayyappa was born of Hari-Hara (Vishnu and Shiva).” He also tweeted “Nobody should face discrimination because of their sexual preferences. To be branded a criminal for this is absurd.” In fact, Christian leaders should also be aware that the Pope himself has been understanding of same-sex relationship. In the face of such support, can religious leaders claim that religious sentiments were hurt after the Delhi HC order? We think not.