Legalising Gay Sex against Indian ethos

The “global sex industry”, with massive business hubs in Thailand, Philippines, Mexico and Brazil, is poised to extend its tentacles to India taking advantage of gradually relaxing sexual ethos, Purshothaman Mulloli, general convenor Joint Action Committee Kannur said in New Delhi today.

He was speaking in a seminar on “The Delhi High Court Judgment: Section 377, IPC and its consequences” called by the Institute of Objective Studies at Indian Islamic Cultural Centre, New Delhi.

Mr Mulloli, whose committee has been fighting legal battles against legalisation of homosexuality, said the Delhi High Court judgment decriminalising homosexual acts between consenting adults in the privacy of homes, would create a conducive environment for the global sex industry to step in.

He said it was not true that because section 377 (prohibiting unnatural sex with men, women or animals) was a 19th century law that had to be “read down”. The fact was that it was reviewed twice after 1947. He said that the Delhi HC, going beyond its area of operation, has asked Parliament in the judgment to enact appropriate laws protecting gay rights.

The Delhi HC in a controversial judgment on July 2, 2009 had read down the Section 377 to decriminalize same-sex behavior among consenting adults. Section 377 continues to apply in the case of sex involving minors and coercive sex. It is to note here that out of two commissions set up by the Parliament that had examined the relevance of Section 377, one had supported it while the other wanted gay rights. It has gone to the cabinet for consideration.

Earlier, in his inaugural address Dr Mohammad Manzoor Alam, chairman of the Institute of Objective Studies, said that it was a struggle between the values of small westernized elite and the common people of India. The outcome of the struggle would show “whether we would live by God-given laws, or guided by our basic instincts”. He cautioned the government not to force a law on people that would destroy “India’s moral fibre”.

Dr. DBS Sehra, president of Delhi unit of Buddhist Society of India, said that homosexuality was an aberration that was against the ethos of the country. It should never be given legal sanction. He said that consent between two adults to indulge in something undesirable should not become the criterion for its being right.

Journalist and former MP Santosh Bhartiya cautioned that the international sex industry was eyeing India for expanding its business here. It was possible under lax laws only. He urged the nation against opening the gates to such interests.

The following resolutions were passed at the end of seminar:

1. oppose the judgment and its far-reaching implications for the physical health, emotional security, public morality and spiritual wellbeing of the people of India and its future generations;

2. support legal challenge to the ruling in the Supreme Court of India for the protection of our values;

3. mobilise and educate our society to resist such moral decline; and

4.request the Union government to bring legislation that prevents further erosion of our moral values.