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Fri, 12/03/2010 - 09:30
Submitted by Reena Daruwalla on Mon, 29/06/2009 - 11:18
We in India, do not want to talk much about homosexuality and when we do, we are by and large, quite a homophobic people, who see this as a disease to be ‘overcome’, or a ‘sin’ or have any number of other reasons to reject homosexuals.
So when the UPA government gets underway with its procedure to scrap the obsolete and arcane section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, it is bound to meet with stiff resistance. The section sought to be repealed outlaws “carnal intercourse against the order of nature”, and thereby criminalises homosexuality.
The argument in favour of the law is put forward by fundamental organisations of the majority communities as well as the minority communities. As reported here, the Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind and the Jamaat Islami as well as the VHP have categorically opposed any change in the law. The position of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India is that its objection is not so much to the repeal of the law or to homosexuality as such; their objections are more in the direction of the concept of same sex marriages and their possible legalisation.
There is also the premise put forward that the law sought to be repealed protects children from molestation, when in fact this law serves chiefly as a weapon of harassment in the hand of citizens who disapprove of gays and lesbians. It is also something that is misused by people in authority and law enforcement agencies who want to “teach people a lesson”.
What is actually required is to have a clearly considered and formulated law on pedophilia which is, at present mired in uncertainty and quite unclear. Often child molesters go scot free because the molestation stops just short of ‘penetration’ which require to establish ‘rape’. So what is required is a scrapping of the archaic and worthless section 377 and to formulate a more comprehensive and sensitive at handling the issue to child abuse which is a very pressing issue that is not being addressed at all.
So as the lawmakers debate the legal and political ramifications and consequences of retaining or repealing the law, the fate of the gay and lesbian community hangs in the balance.
So when the UPA government gets underway with its procedure to scrap the obsolete and arcane section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, it is bound to meet with stiff resistance. The section sought to be repealed outlaws “carnal intercourse against the order of nature”, and thereby criminalises homosexuality.
The argument in favour of the law is put forward by fundamental organisations of the majority communities as well as the minority communities. As reported here, the Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind and the Jamaat Islami as well as the VHP have categorically opposed any change in the law. The position of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India is that its objection is not so much to the repeal of the law or to homosexuality as such; their objections are more in the direction of the concept of same sex marriages and their possible legalisation.
There is also the premise put forward that the law sought to be repealed protects children from molestation, when in fact this law serves chiefly as a weapon of harassment in the hand of citizens who disapprove of gays and lesbians. It is also something that is misused by people in authority and law enforcement agencies who want to “teach people a lesson”.
What is actually required is to have a clearly considered and formulated law on pedophilia which is, at present mired in uncertainty and quite unclear. Often child molesters go scot free because the molestation stops just short of ‘penetration’ which require to establish ‘rape’. So what is required is a scrapping of the archaic and worthless section 377 and to formulate a more comprehensive and sensitive at handling the issue to child abuse which is a very pressing issue that is not being addressed at all.
So as the lawmakers debate the legal and political ramifications and consequences of retaining or repealing the law, the fate of the gay and lesbian community hangs in the balance.
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