So – here we are folks, in a historic judgement this morning, Delhi High Court has read down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code to exclude consensual sex among adults. Congratulations to the group of tireless activists who have helped to bring this about, and congratulations to all of us who count ourselves as part of the queer community.
So many difficult and lonely journeys have meandered to this point, so many kinds of love that had not “dared to speak its name”… and still such a long way to go…
But right now – CELEBRATE!
And do you know what Justice Muralidharan anchored his judgment to? Jawaharlal Nehru’s words moving the Objectives Resolution in 1946. Here is the concluding part of this amazing judgement:
“CONCLUSION 129. The notion of equality in the Indian Constitution flows from the ‘Objective Resolution’ moved by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on December 13, 1946. Nehru, in his speech, moving this Resolution wished that the House should consider the Resolution not in a spirit of narrow legal wording, but rather look at the spirit behind that Resolution.
Nehru said, ‘Words are magic things often enough, but even the magic of words sometimes cannot convey the magic of the human spirit and of a Nation’s passion…….. (The Resolution) seeks very feebly to tell the world of what we have thought or dreamt of so long, and what we now hope to achieve in the near future.”
130. If there is one constitutional tenet that can be said to be underlying theme of the Indian Constitution, it is that of ‘inclusiveness’. This Court believes that Indian Constitution reflects this value deeply ingrained in Indian society, nurtured over several generations. The inclusiveness that Indian society traditionally displayed, literally in every aspect of life, is manifest in recognising a role in society for everyone. Those perceived by the majority as “deviants’ or ‘different’ are not on that score excluded or ostracised. 131. Where society can display inclusiveness and understanding, such persons can be assured of a life of dignity and nondiscrimination. This was the ‘spirit behind the Resolution’ of which Nehru spoke so passionately. In our view, Indian Constitutional law does not permit the statutory criminal law to be held captive by the popular misconceptions of who the LGBTs are. It cannot be forgotten that discrimination is antithesis of equality and that it is the recognition of equality which will foster the dignity of every individual.
132. We declare that Section 377 IPC, insofar it criminalises consensual sexual acts of adults in private, is violative of Articles 21, 14 and 15 of the Constitution. The provisions of Section 377 IPC will continue to govern non-consensual penile non-vaginal sex and penile non-vaginal sex involving minors. By ‘adult’ we mean everyone who is 18 years of age and above. A person below 18 would be presumed not to be able to consent to a sexual act. This clarification will hold till, of course, Parliament chooses to amend the law to effectuate the recommendation of the Law Commission of India in its 172nd Report which we believe removes a great deal of confusion. Secondly, we clarify that our judgment will not result in the re-opening of criminal cases involving Section 377 IPC that have already attained finality. We allow the writ petition in the above terms.”
Ah, the magic lurking in the dry legalese:
We declare that Section 377 IPC, insofar as it criminalises consensual sexual acts of adults in private, is violative of Articles 21, 14 and 15 of the Constitution.
You can download here (.pdf) the full text of the judgement – 105 pages long.
KAFILA - COLLECTIVE EXPLORATIONS SINCE 2006 
so finally the fight has come to a logical climax but it should not be dubbed as a big victory which might lead this community to party hard and forget the responsibility the judgment has put on their shoulders. They have been struggling since so many years for this day and their pursuit has made a history when the honorable judge cited ‘objective resolution ‘ moved by pt.Nehru in his observation.
I wish them a smooth going and remind them of freedom with reason.
akhilesh dixit
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I know this comment will appear as a bit of a dampener and might even shift the focus, but did you notice that in almost all the reports aired by the electronic media, the key opponents to this historic judgment were shown to be clerics from MINORITY religious communities, particularly Islam?
While such conservative voices must be opposed regardless of their religious affiliation, I do hope this momentous day doesn’t give another opportunity to the mainstream media to further alienate the minorities.
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K, you mean to say you saw RSS leaders on TV welcoming the judgement? One of the parties to the case was a Hindutva ideologue, BP Singhal. And a lot of the christian ‘leaders’ I saw on TV were making the nuanced point that while they don’t oppose decriminalisation, they don’t support homosexuality
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No, I don’t mean that I saw RSS leaders welcoming the judgement! Instead, the general sense that I got was that the opposition, AS IT WAS PORTRAYED, seemed to emanate MORE from religious clerics of minority communities – almost making it seem like only ‘they’ are conservative.
Although I do hope that I felt so only because I didn’t watch a lot of what was aired.
In any case, congratulations to all of us. :)
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दिल्ली उच्चन्यायालय का फैसला निश्चित तौर पर महत्वपूर्ण है, इसके दूरगामी परिणाम भी हो सकते हैं। भाषा में जादू शब्दों से नहीं प्यार से आता है, शब्दों में प्यार शामिल नहीं है तो शब्दों का असर नहीं होता। शब्दों में अपनी शक्ति नहीं होती ,शब्द अपनी शक्ति प्यार से हासिल करते हैं। समलैंगिक पहले भी थे परन्तु उनमें वैसा प्यार नहीं था जैसा आज है। समलैंगिकता गोपनीय थी किसी की ओट में प्यार था। भारत का भक्ति आंदोलन का साहित्य जो सबसे जनप्रिय साहित्य है समलैंगिक प्रेम से भ्ारा है। हिन्दी में सूरदास लेस्बियन प्रेम का सबसे बडा कवि है। हिन्दी का पहला लेस्बियन उपन्यास बिहार की एक परंपरागत औरत ने लिखा था जिसका नामथा आशा सहाय और उपन्यास का नाम था एकाकिनी।प्रकाशन वर्ष 1948। कहने का मतलब है समलैंगिक प्रेम हिन्दी में अछूत नहीं रहा। दूसरी बात यह है कि समलैंगिक प्रेम हो अथवा प्रेम हो, प्रेम तो प्रेम है उसमें अपराध जैसी धारणा कहां से आती है, प्रेम को अपराध ब्रिटिश शासकों ने बनाया उसके पहले समलैंगिक प्रेम कभी अपराध नहीं माना गया बल्कि उसकी शिक्षा की व्यवस्था कामसूत्र करता है। इससे भी बडी बात यह है कि धारा 377 आज भी है और लोग समलैंगिक प्यार कर रहे हैं, कानून से प्यार नहीं थमता। समलैंगिक संबंधी बहस में यह सवाल भी उठा है कि समलैंगिकता स्वास्थ्य के लिए हानिकारक है ,हो सकता है यह बात सच भी हो किन्तु समलैंगिक सेक्स और प्यार में हमें भेद करना होगा। समलैंगिक सेक्स ही क्यों सेक्स के किसी भी तरीके से खतरा हो सकता है सेक्स के सभी रूप सावधानी की मांग करते हैं। सेक्स हमेशा स्वाभाविक होता है अस्वाभाविक यदि कोई चीज है तो सेक्स की सत्ता को न मानना। सेक्स जीवन का सच है। सेक्स कल्पना की चीज नहीं है,सेक्स के प्रति हमारा असहज ,अस्वाभाविक व्यवहार ही है जिसके गर्भ से धारा 377 जैसे कानून पैदा होते हैं। धारा 377 गयी नहीं है अभी भी है, मजेदार बात यह है कि माकपा ने उच्चन्यायालय के इस फैसले का स्वागत िकया है उल्लेखनीय है यही माकपा अपने दो महत्वपूर्ण नेताओं को समलैंगिकता के आरोप में पार्टी से िनकाल चुकी है, पहली घटना जे.एन.यू. के एक छात्रनेता के साथ हुई थी और दूसरी घटना दो साल पहले कोलकाता के बेहतरीन माकपा नेता के साथ हुई इस नेता को 70 साल की उम्र में समलैंगिकता के आरोप में पार्टी से निकाल दिया गया बाद में उनकी मौत हो गयी।
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Jagdishwar, shukriya ki aap hamare saamne Hindi sahitya se aise udaharan saamne laye jo darshate hain ki “bharatiya sanskriti” mein samlaingikta ko kabhi paap ke saath joda nahin gaya hai. Aur jahan tak CPM ka sawaal hai, narivadi aur queer andolan ke bhaag hone ke naate mujhe garv hai ki CPM, jo anya partiyon ki tarah homophobic thi, hamari ek dashak ki samvad ki koshishon ke baad ab is mukaam pe pahunchi hai ki Karat bilkul khuli tarah se 377 ke khilaf statement de rahe hain.
K – you express precisely the discomfort I was feeling while watching channel after channel portraying bishops and mullas expressing views ranging from disquiet to downright homophobia, while the fact that Singhal of VHP is one of the parties to the case, opposing the reading down of Section 377, seemed to have slipped below their radar.
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मीडिया तो समलैंगिकता को पाप सिद्ध करने में लगा है। समलैंगिकता पाप नहीं है और नहीं अपराध है भारतीय परंपरा में भी अपराध नहीं है। समलैंगिकता के खिलाफ किसी भी पुरानी पोथी में इसे अपराध नहीं माना गया है। समलैंगिकता को फंडामेंटलिस्टों से खतरा कम है लिबरल लोगों से ज्यादा है। फंडामेंटलिस्ट तो स्वयं समलैंगिक भोगी होते हैं। फर्क यह है वे छिपे समलैंगिक हैं। यह स्थिति ईसाई तत्ववादियों से लेकर हिन्दू कठमुल्लों तक सभी की है। वे मंचों पर जितनी भी मुखालफत करें व्यवहार में वे समलैंगिकता के भोगी होते हैं। आधुनिक समलैंगिक आंदोलन समलैंगिक भोग की मांग का आंदोलन नहीं है ,यह नागरिक आंदोलन है,पहचान का आंदोलन है। यूरोप से लेकर अमरीका तक सैंकडों पादरियां को समलैंगिक अपराधों में लिप्त पाया गया। समलैंगिकता के बारे में मीडिया कवरेज का एक लाभ यह होगा कि इसके प्रति अछूत भाव कम होगा। ज्यादा खुलकर चर्चाएं होंगी और सेक्स और समलैंगिकता पर खुली चर्चाएं ही हैं जो सहज और स्वाभाविक भावबोध बनाएगी। हाल के वर्षों में जिस तरह के जलसे और फिल्मों का प्रदर्शन इस विषय पर हुआ है उसने समलैंगिकता के पक्ष में वातावरण बनाया है खुलकर लोग अपनी पहचान व्यक्त कर रहे हैं। यह सामाजिक चेतना के विकास का शुभ लक्षण है। मीडिया अपने तरीके से इसे पाप और स्वास्थ्य की समस्या बना रहा है, जबकि यह इनमें से कुछ भी नहीं है। यह तो पहचान और अनुभूति की समस्या है ऐसी पहचान जिसे हमने कभी देखने का प्रयास नहीं किया। उल्लेखनीय है औरत ने भी जब अपनी पहचान अजिर्त करने की कोशिश की थी तब भी ऐसा ही पमाडा हुआ था, मीडिया और तत्ववादी लोग हमेशा पहचान के किसी भी नए रूप को सहज ही स्वीकार नहीं करते। वे पहचान से लेकर इच्छा तक सभी क्षेत्रों में एकायामी और संकीर्ण नजरिए का प्रतिपादन करते हैं। यह आज की नहीं पुरानी आदत है। समलैंगिकता का सवाल कानून का नहीं पहचान ,अनुभूति और नजरिए का सवाल है इसकी स्वायत्ता को हमें स्वीकार करना चाहिए।
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I have felt myself a woman, man and both . To link sexuality to child bearing and draw justification from that is not acceptable. What has happend is good. Hope society would treat the gay and leasbians as normal in the coming days. Right now in US newspapers daily carry phtos of newlymarried couple which include same sex people routinely
partha, Santa Clara, CA
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Gay ruling, gay prejudice, gay community, gay activists, gay victory, gay day… “you may if you are gay” (The Telegraph)… “Indian Media hails Gay Sex ruling” (BBC)…
This is what one woke up to after the euphoria of celebrating the ruling through the evening before the Academy of Fine Arts in Calcutta. The celebratory space last evening had seemed to truly cut across class and gender lines. But in the morning I was truly appalled at the singular co-optation of everything about the ‘movement’ and the ruling into something ‘gay’. Not even the (unsatisfactory) alphabet soup ‘LGBTQ…’ which at least makes token gestures toward lesbian and transgender inclusion. FORGET about any mention of (say) the Hijras… who are among the lower-class sections who often bore the greatest brunt of the law: picked up, harrassed, tortured and raped by the police from public spaces where they tend tend to be far more visible than any ‘gay sex’ in the bedroom is. How does the ruling and its coverage go towards ANY change in the social perception of such sections, as they aren’t even MENTIONED in most places as having any relevance to the ruling or any role in the ‘movement’??
And this cannot be just the fault of the media… those in the ‘community’ and who WERE represented have to do some hard thinking as to for whom and to what end they are speaking for. Else, we could be witnessing a similar elite and ‘gay’-led co-optation of the ‘movement’ as we have seen around issues such as ‘gay marriage’ in the US.
P.S. While this is written in great anger, it is not directed to any ‘gay activist’ or community leader in particular, many of whom I know well and whose contributions I respect.
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Will the Hijras now stop harrassing pedastrians and shop owners. Will they stop extracting money from these people. For whatever reason they are discriminated why harass innocent shopkeepers and people on the road.
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I think hijras’ harassment of shopkeepers and people on the roads is a form of begging, and like all begging, is produced by poverty and the absolute lack of other options. (And that includes the existence of begging mafias and the high police tolerance for these mafias).
In another post here on kafila, Anu asked the striking question: How many hijras will get jobs under NREGA? Thus she tied together the question of dignity with livelihood. What are livelihood options for hijras? Very very limited indeed. Poverty and lack of livelihood options fundamentally structure the lives and choices that most people in India make, and those of us for whom this is emphatically not the case need to be more reflective.
But also, Janardhan, why do you say will the hijras “now” stop harassing…? You mean after the judgement? But all that the judgement has done is permit them to have consensual sex in private with whomever they want, legally. Important, but doesn’t address their livelihood issues, no?
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one year! YAY! :D
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