GAY RIGHTS IN INDIA

GAY RIGHTS IN INDIA

2^nd July 2009, a Thursday, was a day to rejoice for many people across India, the reason for this, the Delhi High Court had given a historic judgement by means of which “gay sex” was no longer a criminal offence. The High Court, through this judgement struck down the 148year old law which made “gay sex” an offence punishable with 10years of imprisonment. Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which made same-sex relationship an offence was, however, not abolished completely. The judgement has just decriminalised “sexual relationship between two consenting adults. Homosexuality is generally considered a taboo subject by both Indian civil society and the government. Public discussion of homosexuality in India has been inhibited by the fact that sexuality in any form is rarely discussed openly. In recent years, however, attitudes towards homosexuality have shifted slightly, the reasons for which range from getting media publicity to atrocities against homosexuals. In particular, there have been more depictions and discussions of homosexuality in the Indian news media and by the Hindi Film Industry.

The hype created by the television media and at times even the reports published in the print media gave the impression that now same sex relationships were completely accepted by the legal system. But this judgement has made things more ambiguous. If I ask a question like, can two men get married to each other? The answer to this is a big NO. The judgement given by the Delhi HC somewhere lacked foresight, as it has indirectly legalised sex [may be between people of the same sex] outside the wedlock. There was a very interesting argument put up by the counsel, who appealed against the judgement of the Delhi HC, if the court can legalise “gay sex” then why not legalise prostitution as well.

The NGO which filed the PIL in the HC, NAZ Foundation, has suddenly come in the limelight. This keeps me wondering whether this whole thing is just to get all the media attention and popularity. In the past few years, being gay or lesbian has been “in vogue” not just in Hollywood but also in the Hindi Film Industry. Being in controversy is also a means to get popularity, and for me the reason why so many film stars and Page 3 folks “raising a voice for homosexuality” is just for easy popularity. The issue of homosexuality is of importance but today people are, literally, running after it as if all the legal problems and issues of India have been solved and just this one issue is left.

                        

The argument put forward by the people in support of gay rights is that the people have to evolve according to the changes in the society. But what I do not understand is, why should “evolution” always be in opposition to the laws of nature? The true evolution of man kind, as put by APJ Abdul Kalam is, “when the human race understands the true spirit of the laws of nature and acts in synergy with them and not in opposition”. Even ancient Hindu scriptures like Manusmriti does mention about homosexuality as a sexual practice but was never encouraged and its mention made to serve the purpose of regulation. We have to understand that homosexuality is not a westernised concept but is very much Indian, this can go a long way in tackling the various issues of homosexuality in India. There is no doubt that the problem needs to be solved but people should not fulfil their craving for media publicity through this issue.

The next demand of the Homosexuals in India is granting of equal marriage rights to them. This demand, if fulfilled, is going to create mammoth problems in the legal system. For example, if two men get married and have children through scientific methods and after some years they apply for divorce, then how will you define “family”, on what basis will the succession of property take place, who will get the custody of the children and the million dollar question, who will be termed as the “husband/father” and “wife/mother”. Granting of equal marriage rights to homosexuals can land many laws of the country in a soup.

The issue of homosexuality needs to be addressed, there is no doubt in this, but while doing this there should be a foresight and it should not be done with the motive of publicity. For a nation to grow the institution of family is of utmost importance and homosexuality challenges the very basis of family, which is the union of a man and a woman. It is for us to decide which way do we want our country to evolve.