India unable to decide on homosexuality laws

By Rajesh Khongbantabam *

There are only two certainties that all human beings share: Sex and Death. Both are monosyllable words in English but the experience of either is not as easy, no matter how quick it may be.

The former is usually associated with pleasure, and the latter with fear but these feelings can sometimes be mixed up, making it necessary to distinguish between the two. India has reached such a stage and even people in high places appear to be confused.

The central government cannot decide, or seems hesitant to clarify, its stand on homosexuality. The Ministry of Health and Family Affairs believes homosexuality between consenting adults should be decriminalized while the Home Ministry believes it should remain a criminal offense on moral grounds.

This would be comically absurd if the stakes were not so high.

The health ministry argues that since men who have sex with men are a HIV high-risk group, decriminalization is essential if preventative campaigns are to be carried out effectively. But the Home Ministry claims legalizing homosexuality would unleash delinquent and unhealthy behavior on the wider community.

Several civil society groups and government bodies have argued that section 377 of the Indian penal code is a bigoted colonial law used to arrest members of minority.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked the two ministers to sort the issue out between themselves.

This seems a perfectly logical thing to do but if appeals had been made in the name of some other form of social injustice, would the center's stance have been as reticent and evasive? v It is unfortunate that the greatest challenge to sexual injustice in India has come from a virus but HIV has forced politicians to address many facts that had previously gone unspoken. It has regrettably also made the struggle for sexual equality and freedom in India inseparable from fears of death and disease.

The mortal urgency of this issue highlights why the prime minister and his colleagues must quickly make up their minds about homosexuality.

Liberty, equality, justice and individual dignity are the fundamental principles of India's constitution. *** This article was written before the landmark verdict of the Delhi high court on 2nd July 2009 that legalizes the same-sex relationship