The Delhi High Court today declared Section 377 of Indian Penal Code (IPC), a relic of the British Raj, “violative of articles 14, 21 and 15 of the (Indian) Constitution in so far as it criminalizes consensual sexual acts of adults in private.” That means, from now on, police will no longer be able to arrest adult homosexuals having consensual sex.
Gays have so far been living under terror in India because section 377 IPC empowered police to put behind bars those who committed “unnatural offences”…and…”whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal should be punished”.
CNN-IBN reports: “Many of the gay rights activists from India and abroad present in the court broke into tears as the order was passed while others shouted in joy before realising that their action would amount to contempt of court.
“The reaction from Hindu, Muslim and Christian leaders was swift and bordered on anger and disbelief. All India Muslim Personal Law Board’s Kamal Farooqi said, ‘This is a sad day for civilised society. It is not acceptable. They are playing with the future generations and civilised society.’
“Father Dominic Emmanuel added, ‘We are against legalising (gay sex)… This is because what they do is unnatural and against the design and will of God.’
“Last year, the Government (of India) had submitted that gay sex was immoral and reflective of a perverse mind and warned its de-criminalisation would lead to moral degradation in society.
” ‘Every citizen has the right to lead a decent and moral life in society and the right would be violated if such behaviour (gay sex) is legalised,’ the Government contended.
“It remains to be seen whether the Central Government will appeal against the latest order in the Supreme Court.” More here…
“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.”
Read here about homosexuality in India…
India’s leading newspaper The Times of India says “Homosexuality Is No Crime”. More here…
Here is the BBC report. Please click here…
And The Globe & Mail report here…
Here’s a chronology of Indian Gays’ battle for their rights…
Below is the NDTV video…
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.