[Reader-list] Voices against HC Judgement emerge

[Venugopalan K M]

Many a political chieftain is happy with this controversy though(which
might help  him take a short break to digress from other burning
issues), questions about near universally recognized  right for one
to have a sexual orientation different from the patterns approved by
religious establishments,seem to be  fundamental to the very existence
of democracy.
Seen that way, Delhi High Court favouring legalizing homosexuality by
scrapping Sec 377of the IPC is a significant step that warrants
unequivocal support by all secular and democratic forces.  Leaderships
of political parties who claim to champion the cause of  Social
Justice making diatribes against ending discrimination on the ground
of sexual orientation ,would have been  quite paradoxical anywhere
else ,except where backwardness of  mindsets are celebrated as culture
and virtue.
In a society which  by and large denies to its mature citizens even
the right of choosing his or her heterosexual partner in love and
marriage, and  which instead , rather meddles with such things
ostensibly to protect the honour and morality of all,   recognition to
sexual orientation/ self determination as a desirable objective is
hard to come through.
Unless voices of all genuine democratic forces emerge forcefully
articulated, the Delhi HC opinion against the colonial vestige  (Sec
377, IPC) will continue to be viewed anything but sensible.

More than anything else, struggles focusing the man made and
authoritarian ethics of human bondings have  caused widening of the
horizon of human rights ; these in fact, have made such criminal laws
obsolete in the countries of their origins than any amount of
condescension by the ruling oligarchy or the Catholic Church . These
laws had to die their natural deaths just like the Victorian concept
of morality, though  authoritarian structures everywhere still
continue to invoke their residual power in ideological terms.
This is a virtual testing time for the so called progressives to take
positions showing their real commitment to freedom and dignity of
individual.on the one hand, and ending the melodrama in  service of
real politicking, on the other.

Regards,
(Venu)

On Fri, Jul 3, 2009 at 10:18 PM, Aditya Raj Kaul<kauladityaraj at gmail.com> wrote:
> Cabinet split over order legalising homosexuality
>
> *CNN-IBN* <http://ibnlive.in.com/news/agency/CNN-IBN/>
>
> *New Delhi:* They might have won the battle in the court, but gays and
> lesbians in India are still not welcome in the temples, mosques or churches.
> The Catholic Christian groups in country are set to challenge the Delhi High
> Court verdict in the Supreme Court.
>
> Reverend Stephen Alathara of the Kerala Catholic Bishop Council says, "We
> have been assured by Government Ministers that homosexuality will not be
> legalised. We will go to the Supreme Court against the verdict along with
> other catholic groups."
>
> And it's not the just the church. Opposing homosexuality is one issue that
> has brought all religious leaders together.
>
> Hindu Godman Baba Ramdev and Muslim Ulema from the Deoband have already
> cautioned the Government against legalising homosexuality.
>
> "We will make sure that the Government will not bring any changes in the
> law," says a member of the famous Lucknow seminary of Firangi Mahal.
>
> As decibels rise, the Government zeal to change the law is diminishing. A
> high-level meeting of the Home Minister, Health Minister and the Law
> Minister at the North Bloc failed to reach a consensus on the future course
> of action.
>
> "We three ministers met to analyse Section 377 and we have analysed it. Now
> we will submit a small note on the same to the Prime Minister for
> appropriate action to be taken," says Law Minister *Veerappa
> Moily*<http://connect.in.com/profile/Veerappa_Moily/355116>
> .
>
> There is no consensus among the ministers and if the debate reaches
> Parliament, the UPA Government will be at the receiving end from the BJP as
> well as parties like the RJD and the *Samajwadi
> Party*<http://connect.in.com/profile/Samajwadi_Party/246869>,
> which are also taken bitterly opposed to gay rights.
>
> *(With inputs from Seemi Pasha and Aasim Khan in New Delhi)*
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