Opinion Better late than never
As they say,Sarkar ke ghar der hai andher nahin hai. So what Macualay did in 1835 and which 25 years later...
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As they say,Sarkar ke ghar der hai andher nahin hai. So what Macualay did in 1835 and which 25 years later became the Indian Penal Code (IPC),has now had one more of its sections brought under question. It is a revolutionary move to even question bits of Section 377,let alone repeal it. Trust the judiciary,the only radical institution left in the country,to do it. The fear and cowardice,not to say the rank prejudice in the reactions among the main political parties that I saw on TV,are as if sex is more of a threat to India than Islamist terrorism. Why this should be so,I cannot fathom. Hinduism is not prudish about sex as the Abrahamic faithsIslam,Christianity and Judaismare and does not disapprove of homosexuality. Indeed,it is the most sexually liberal religion. (Even Indian Islam used to be liberal with its Sufi traditions until the orthodox revival took all the fun away.) What we have parading as orthodox Hinduism is Victorian morality,which the Indian middle classes adopted to ape their British masters. Gandhiji was another Victorian moralist who gave a religious clothing to his sexual dislikes. Panditji was much more open minded,Edwardian rather than Victorian.
The paradox is that the descendants of Victoria have given up that morality. It took a long time,but,within the 45 years that I have lived in the UK,there has been a complete revolution in attitudes towards homosexuality. When I was Chairman of the Labour Party in Islington South,my MP,Chris Smith was the first to come out openly as gay. He has been in the cabinet and indeed he opened the door to many other men and women to openly be known as gay. Gayness is accepted as normal in the UK now and even same sex marriages are legalexcept that they are called civil partnerships.
India has been quite quick in coming to terms with the issue. In the US,there are still debates,but then there are Christian sects which are as intolerant as the Taliban.
Why doesnt the BJP decry the Victorian law and celebrate the liberal sanatan dharma? It should champion the cause of the young gay people. The Left is too prudish to do so and Congress very nervous. The majority of Indias voters are young and do not share these Victorian fears. Does the BJP not see that Section 377 is more of an opportunity to expand its base than Article 370? They should find something better soon since Liberhan is about to catch up with them. Here again it is der rather than andher.
If the UPA had any sense of responsibility,it would publish the report in a cheap edition and have a short summary prepared with translations in many languages. Let us have a national debate without prejudging the legal issues. But since the BJP is unapologetic about what happened,it should welcome the legal consequences. I have a very simple suggestion. It seems the senior leaders of the BJP-L.K. Advani,Murli Manohar Joshi,ex-BJP/SP leader Kalyan Singhare likely to be named as culpable. If they are,they should invite a legal process against them,and step down from their parliamentary seats while awaiting trial. This will show that they have the courage of their convictions and will submit to the legal process-something the guilty of the 1984 are yet to do.
Of course,they will do no such thing. Instead we will have a lot of hypocrisy on all sides. The UPA does not have anything to gain by getting a closure on this issue since it can torture the BJP by bringing it up whenever things get difficult as the BJP do with Bofors.
There is yet a chance to change. Let the government take up the 377 judgment and amend the law accordingly so there is no ambiguity about the rights of Indian citizens to pursue the lifestyle they wish to. Let it also purge the body politic of the poison of Babri demolition. It now has the mandate to rule as a truly national party. Let it secure Indias future as a liberal secular polity.
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