Child rights panel moves SC against gay ruling

http://sideeffectsof377.blogspot.com/ 

http://sideeffectsof377.blogspot.com/

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) has moved the Supreme Court challenging 

Delhi High Court order decriminalising gay sex among 

consenting adults.

The statutory commission for protection of child rights has petitioned that the dilution of section 377 of IPC has legalised one more way of large scale sexual exploitation of children.

A bench comprising Justice B N Agrawal, Justice G S Singhvi and Justice M K Sharma, after hearing the plea, issued notices to the Centre, NGO Naz Foundation and others on whose petition the high court had held that criminalisation of gay sex among the consenting adults was violative of fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution.

The bench also tagged the petition of DCPCR with other similar appeals on which the notices have already been issued and posted the matter for hearing on October 1.

Senior advocate Amarender Sharan, appearing for DCPCR, said dilution of the penal provision will have pernicious effects on children.

The bench, however, wanted to know whether DCPCR had intervened in the matter before the high court. At this, Mr Sharan replied in negative and said it was doing so now as DCPCR, after going through the judgement, has filed the appeal as it is a statutory commission for the protection of children.

The petitioner commission submitted that plethora of scientific research highlighting the problems of homosexual behaviour and their serious impact on child welfare was not brought before the high court which held that the homosexual behaviour is normal.

“The high court did not have the benefit of scientific studies and on a very scanty, selective material has passed the judgement holding that the homosexual behaviour is a normal behaviour”, the petition said.

The commission contended that gay sex would adversely affect the physiological and mental development of a child and the high court has failed to take into account the problems encountered by homosexuals and their outcome on society at large including children.

The commission further said that the age of 18 years to define adulthood for consensual homosexual act in private is unreasonable as the age is characterised by changes and turmoil where the inquisitiveness and peer group pressure play a major role in the personality development of a child.

The apex court had earlier issued a notice to the Centre on a petition filed by a Christian body, a disciple of yoga guru Ramdev and astrologer Suresh Kumar Kaushal seeking a stay on the high court order legalising gay sex on the ground that it will have a catastrophic effect on the society’s moral fabric.

All the petitioners have sought setting aside of the high court verdict legalising gay sex between consenting adults in private, which was earlier a criminal offence punishable with upto life imprisonment.

Delhi child rights panel moves apex court on gay sex

Delhi's child-rights panel on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court opposing a high court ruling decriminalising homosexuality, saying it would permit sex between men as young as 18.
The Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) in its lawsuit pointed out that the laws of the land prevent men below the age of 21 from marrying women and even countries like the United Kingdom permit homosexuality between adults above the age of 21.
Admitting the lawsuit, a bench of Justice BN Agrawal and Justice GS Singhvi issued notices to the union government and the civil society Naz Foundation, seeking their stand on the Delhi High Court verdict.
The high court had in early July decriminalised gay sex between two consenting adults, acting on a lawsuit by the NGO Naz Foundation. The union government has so far not challenged the verdict.
Appearing for DCPCR, former additional solicitor general Amrendra Saran sought immediate suspension of the high court ruling, but the court slated the matter for hearing on Oct 1.
In its lawsuit, the DCPCR said it was "constrained to move the apex court challenging the high court ruling as the high court has failed to take into account various aspects related to homosexuality, which actually adversely affect the physiological state of a child".
The DCPCR lawsuit pointed out that for the purpose of consensual gay sex, the Delhi High court ruling has considered a person of age 18 years or above as adult.
"But it is pertinent to point out at this stage that the Sexual Offence Act, 1967 of the United Kingdom partially decriminalizes homosexual acts in private between two males, both of whom must have attained the age 21 years," said the lawsuit.
"So even in the society like England, the minimum age for homosexuality in private is 21 years," said the lawsuit, adding the Delhi High Court's act of allowing homosexuality at the age of 18 years is "unjustified and without reason".
"In other words, the maturity and inability to comprehend the consequences of an act is not well developed in an individual of 18 years," said the lawsuit.
"Ironically, the high court ruling allows 18 year old men to indulge in homosexuality, while even the law of the land bars men's marriage below the age of 21 and girl's marriage below the age of 18.
"Even psychologically and physically, the age of 18 years is the age of changes and turmoil where the inquisitiveness and peer group pressure play a major role in the personality development of the child," said the DCPCR lawsuit.
The lawsuit said the high court appeared to be influenced by the fact that homosexuality has been legalized in some Western countries like the Netherlands, Canada, Belgium, South Africa, Norway and South Africa, which, however, are culturally very different from India.
The lawsuit contended that India and China, which are home to over two-fifths of the world's population, have entirely different cultures.

World Premire.....377 Ka Ganda me danda

Over 20 boys say Abdul Rashid Sheikh repeatedly raped them for four years. The man still roams free. Meet Mumbai's newest...

Married dad of four, Abdul Rashid Sheikh allegedly sexually abused over 20 young boys repeatedly and then secured their secrecy by threatening them with physical harm.

Sheikh allegedly knew all the victims and, in fact, in some of the cases, Sheikh and the boys' parents were family friends.

Traumatic: Atif Sheikh, 16, said he was raped seven times over a period of four months and was forced to watch porn films

Last week, six children, abused when they were between 15 and 18 years old, finally summoned the courage to tell their parents, who, in turn, filed a complaint with the Vakola police.

Afroz Rehman (name changed) who was allegedly abused when he was 16, said, "Uncle ruined my life.

I was too shocked to come to terms with what had happened to me, but I knew it was terribly wrong.

But I did not have the courage to tell anyone. I hope he stays in jail forever."

Porn CD

Afroz said he was first shown a porn CD and then raped, repeatedly.

Yet, Sheikh has not been arrested. Senior police inspector at the Vakola police station, Anil Kharade said, "We have registered the complaint, but have not yet arrested him because we are awaiting concrete evidence.

Only a few boys have come forward and recorded their statement, and that is not enough."

Despite requests by the desperate parents the Vakola police only registered an FIR under section 373 of the IPC (buying minors for purposes of prostitution) and section 377 (unnatural sex).

However, IPS officer-turned-lawyer Y P Singh said the man should have been arrested.

"If the children have come forward and a complaint has been filed, the police should have arrested him immediately. They have enough grounds to arrest him."

When told that the police wanted more evidence, he said, "The statements of the boys are evidence.

Forensic tests need to be conducted at his home where the incidents took place and physical evidence like the porn CDs need to be confiscated immediately."

Teacher held for sexual abuse of students

PUNE: The Alandi police on Friday arrested a 24-year-old teacher at an ashram near Alandi for alleged sexual abuse of his students for the last
two months.

The police have identified the suspect as Vighneshwar Patil of Jalgaon. The incident came into light when a 14-year-old student disclosed the incident to his parents, said inspector Ratansinh Rajput.

"We have booked Patil under section 377 (unnatural offences) of the Indian Penal Code. The suspect had sexually abused five other students also from the ashram," Rajput said.

Rajput said that, according the complaint, the suspect used to call the students to his room and, on the pretext of massaging his hands and legs, used to sodomise them.

"There are 16 boys studying at the ashram. The suspect had abused five of them in the last two months. We are investigating whether other students have also been abused," Rajput said.

Delhi man who raped teen in Germany 12 yrs ago held

NEW DELHI: Law-keepers finally arrested a man who allegedly fled from Germany after raping a teenager there 12 years ago. Jaswant Singh (36) was
arrested by the crime branch of Delhi Police after German authorities approached them last year through the ministry of external affairs. Singh reportedly runs a transport company in north Delhi.

Singh was arrested from his residence in northwest Delhi's Adarsh Nagar on Sunday night. He had allegedly raped a 17-year-old girl in a park in Germany's Darmstadt on the night of August 1, 1997, along with two friends. The accused will be tried in New Delhi as Berlin has not sought his extradition.

The arrest follows "painstaking'' investigations for over eight months after Germany approached New Delhi last year. Singh, who hails from Miani in Hoshiarpur, Punjab, allegedly dragged the girl, who was walking home after missing a train, into a park and raped her. "He slapped her when she resisted and then raped her. His two friends Karan Singh and Mohd Shahzad, a Pakistani national also raped her,'' said DCP (crime and railways) Neeraj Thakur.

Singh, who was illegally staying in Germany, left for Holland soon after his two friends were arrested and then reached Delhi. The involvement of Singh and two others came to light when the owner of `Le Petit' restaurant, where he was working as a chef, overheard two workers talking about the incident and informed police about it.

Following the tip-off, two of the accused were arrested by the German police on August 5, 1997 while Singh managed to escape. A German court sentenced Shahzad to eight years imprisonment, while Karan was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. The victim had identified the two in court while she identified Singh through his photographs.

Singh had gone to Germany in 1992 and had sought political asylum, which was later rejected. However, he continued to stay there illegally. "Since he had been living in Germany since 1992 as an illegal immigrant on fake identities, German authorities were unable to get much information about him except his name,'' Thakur added.

The German embassy forwarded copies of the case record to MEA in 2008 with a request to initiate criminal proceedings against Singh. "We had a name and a place of birth. Information regarding persons with similar names and description who had arrived from Germany over the past few years were gathered. Sources were deployed and persons engaged in facilitating immigration were also tapped,'' said a senior police officer.

"Singh never expected to be caught after 12 years for a crime he committed in another country,'' added the officer. Singh got married in 2000 and has two children. He had been booked under Section 376 (2) (G) (gangrape), Section 377 (unnatural offences) and Section 341 (wrongful restraint) of Indian Penal Code. IPC Section 4 (trial of a person committing crime in any part of the world) has also been invoked against him.

Gay & Msm > Criminal Activies in Hyderbad & Secbad ???? Newsup-dates <<

World premier > 377 ka gaand me Danda <

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http://www.wix.com/shemalejasmin/Section-377

judgment of the high court is legally correct or not

The government will not oppose the Delhi High Court judgment which legalised homosexual acts between consenting adults, official documents show.

The three ministries had been directed by the Prime Minister to firm up the government stand, following the opposing stands taken by the Home and Health ministries before the high court last year.The note, likely to be put up before the Union Cabinet on Thursday, was prepared after meetings between the Home, Health and law Ministries. It states there appeared to be no “legal error in the judgment, which has not struck down the entire Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)”, given by the high court on July 2.

The three ministries had been directed by the Prime Minister to firm up the government stand, following the opposing stands taken by the Home and Health ministries before the high court last year.

The fresh government note is learnt to have been prepared on the basis of the opinion given by union Law Secretary TK Vishwanathan.

“Since the court has not struck down the entire section, and has confined itself to consensual acts in private, it will be difficult for the government to question the HC judgment,” the Law Secretary stated.

The three ministries decided to place it for the union cabinet’s approval, and let the Supreme Court “take a final view whether the judgment of the high court is legally correct or not”.

Nagendar Sharma / Saroj Nagi, Hindustan Times
Email Author
New Delhi, September 02, 2009

it ruled that a ban on gay sex between adults violates India's constitution

Indian cabinet could report next week on legalisation of gay sex

The Indian government could give its official response to a court ruling that decriminalised homosexual acts as early as next week.

Home Minister P Chidambaram told reporters yesterday that a decision will be announced soon.

"The Cabinet has been requested to formulate its views," he said.

"When the Cabinet takes a decision, it will be announced."

Three Cabinet ministers were asked to consider the ruling by Delhi High Court.

In July it ruled that a ban on gay sex between adults violates India's constitution.

Section 377 was enacted in 1860 under the British Raj, in line with the anti-sodomy laws in England at the time.

It punishes anyone who "voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal" by imprisonment and criminalises a whole range of sexual acts from mutual masturbation, to fellatio and anal sex.

Chief Justice A P Shah and Justice S Muralidahr said the ban violated fundamental human rights.

The ruling said: "In the Indian Constitution, the right to live with dignity and the right of privacy both are recognised as dimensions of Article 21.

"Section 377 IPC denies a person's dignity and criminalises his or her core identity solely on account of his or her sexuality and thus violates Article 21 of the Constitution.

"As it stands, Section 377 IPC denies a gay person a right to full personhood which is implicit in notion of life under Article 21 of the Constitution."

The decision was made in response to a case filed by Naz Foundation India. The ruling can still be opposed by the government.

The health ministry has called for the ban to be scrapped, saying it hampered efforts to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS in the country.

However, the home ministry opposed the move, saying that gay sex is the product of "a perverse mind."

IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

Indian court decriminalizes gay sex

Indian court decriminalizes gay sex

Activists herald new wave of HIV prevention
Toronto HIV/AIDS outreach workers say India's Jul 2 ruling to decriminalize gay sex will have positive effects on HIV/AIDS prevention work in a country ravaged by high HIV infection rates.

Devan Nambiar, a Toronto-based educator and consultant who does regular HIV prevention work in India, says the ruling will allow outreach workers there to promote safer-sex more publicly without facing criminal prosecution. He says that, prior the ruling, prevention workers risked jail time for distributing condoms and prevention literature to men who have sex with men.

"HIV/AIDS prevention is hidden," he says. "You have to negotiate with local communities about distributing protection. You have to let police know that you're an [outreach] worker, not selling sex. Otherwise you could be arrested. It wasn't used a lot, but it was always hanging over your head."

The court ruling, the first of its kind in India, states that treating consensual gay sex as a crime is a violation of fundamental human rights protected under Indian constitution.

The move comes nearly eight years after the Naz Foundation (India) Trust, a New Delhi-based HIV/AIDS organization, filed a petition to amend India's sex laws. Prior to the amendment, gay sex was punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

"I'm so excited, I haven't been able to process the news yet," Anjali Gopalan, executive director of the Naz Foundation (India) Trust, told the Associated Press. "We've finally entered the 21st century."

Gay activists in Toronto view India's decision as a major step forward for queer people in developing countries.

"India is a democracy. To have them do something of this caliber is a big thing for a lot of South Asian communities," says Rahim Thawer, men's outreach coordinator for the Toronto-based Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention.

Thawer says it will take a long time to change the social stigma around homosexuality in India but that the ruling "sets up a framework" that will "make it easier for safe-sex discussion to take place."

El-Farouk Khaki, a Toronto immigration lawyer, politician and human rights activist, says the ruling gives gay men a new sense of legal protection. Khaki says the law was commonly used as an intimidation tool, either to blackmail or sexually abuse potential offenders. Prior to the ruling, if a person was gay bashed they could be afraid to report the incident to police for fear that they would "be arrested and charged" under the anti-sodomy law, says Khaki.

Khaki says he remains skeptical about how decriminalization will fit into the context of Indian culture.

"Often anti-sodomy laws are removed from the books but that does not mean the everyday human rights situation for the average person has changed," he explains. "The cops that used the law to abuse people are still the same cops."

Being openly gay in India is still largely taboo. In a culture heavily influenced by religion and family honour, gay people often repress their sexualities or live double lives.

"There's a public face and a private face," says Khaki. "People will come out to their families, and families will tolerate it, but they won't tell anyone else.... Sometimes same-sex marriage is tolerated and accepted as long as people are also in heterosexual marriages."

Nambiar says the choice to come out in India sometimes depends on socio-economic status.

"Middle and upper class gays are much more comfortable coming out," he says. "If you're below it's more challenging due to the lack of education."

And "coming out" as "gay," as we in the West would say, isn't always the goal. In India, many men who have sex with men don't bother with identity labels, says Nambiar.

"In Western culture gay men are piped into being a top, a bottom, a butch, a femme," says Nambiar. "In India it's more like, 'I'm a man, I like you, end of story'.... I find it liberating to be gay in India."

Many religious groups are expected to pressure India's ministries and courts to reverse its decision to decriminalize gay sex.

The ruling "is dangerous and harmful for Indian society," Uzma Nahid, member of an Islamic law board, told the LA Times.

Nahid promised to join Christian and Hindu groups in fighting the ruling, the newspaper reported. Such an appeal would be made to India's supreme court.

The ruling was celebrated in cities across the India but Thawer says there is a small chance, if the religious right pushes hard enough, that the anti-sodomy laws could be reinstated.

"The lawmakers and a lot of academics would counter the argument," says Thawer. "The state would have to recognize that while some find homosexuality immoral, people would have to look at the true spirit of equality. Not to ask what makes everyone happy, but to do what is right."

India becomes the 127th country to decriminalize gay sex. Anti-sodomy laws remain on the books in 18 Asian and Pacific, 17 African, and 13 Caribbean countries and colonies, reports Human Rights Watch, a New York based human rights organization.

‘Dealing with’ the Hijra Problem >Pakistan’s Undesirables:

Pakistan’s supreme court recently ruled that all hijras, the Urdu catch-all term for its transvestite, transgender and eunuch community, will be registered by the government as part of a survey that aims to integrate them further into society. The ruling followed a petition by Islamic jurist Dr Mohammad Aslam Khaki, who said the purpose was to “save them from a life of shame”.

Khaki’s petition was prompted by a police raid on a hijra colony in Taxila, an ancient city filled with some of the oldest Buddhist ruins in Pakistan. Two of the three judges on the bench that ruled in favour if the hijra petition, chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry, were under house arrest for the better part of the past three years. This, coupled with the clobbering the police gave the lawyers during their demonstrations against the suspension of the judiciary in 2007, makes it easy to regard the hijra ruling as being directed against the police.

Outside the affluent areas of Lahore, police are known to arrest and shake down members of the urban working and begging classes; and many police working at busy intersections have bad relations with the “genderqueer“.

But that doesn’t mean the current judiciary stands for greater gender equity either. Last May, one of the judges that also sat on the bench for the hijra ruling, Ijaz Chaudhry, banned the popular songstress Naseebo Lal from being played on the radio for singing vulgar songs.

Still, the ruling has brought hijras further into the public eye. They held their first protest outside the Lahore Press Club a week after the ruling. On 26 June, hundreds from around Pakistan gathered outside the club holding up placards with the verse “Who am I?” by Punjab’s most beloved poet, Bulleh Shah. The gathering was to laud the colossal effort it must have taken for the supreme court to acknowledge their existence, and to hopefully inform the public about the impoverished, and desperate conditions that they live in.

Boys who grow up genderqueer in Pakistan are often abandoned by families and left to fend for themselves during early adolescence. Most hijra colonies could be described as matriarchies, with a clear leader, referred to as the guru. Some hijras remain on the colonies, others go out to dance, collect alms or entertain city dwellers for money, which is given to the guru who ensures their food and lodging. There are other boys, referred to as pakhi was (gypsies), who live on the banks of the Ravi river in tent colonies and also dress up as women to earn money singing and dancing in public. But pakhi was dress like this to earn more money and attention, not because of their sexuality.

In a culture with strict gender codes, those who bend the rules choose to dress as hijras for many reasons. The government survey will have to decided whether or not to recognise the distinctions between hijras, street performers and even prostitutes.

This survey is also likely to be lacklustre in its execution. Previous government attempts to survey or register the working and begging classes have been ineffectual, at best. After securing a 150 rupee daily wage for labourers, the labour secretary in Lahore admitted that only a fraction of the labourers working in the city were registered. Despite a so-called guarantee by the government to keep the poor from starving to death, people are still starving to death. Without a real follow-through on the part of local districts of major cities and towns, any government surveys will remain unhelpful.

The move to recognise hijras has perhaps been part of a spillover from India’s efforts to recognise its own hijras following a stunt last April when three hijras applied to run for office to raise awareness about the “third sex issue”. As a result, hijras can now give their gender as “E” for eunuch on their passports and government forms.

One thing is for sure, though. To change the attitude towards sexuality and gender in the country, it will take much more than rulings by the courts, or surveys by the government. (Source)

1. i met a hijra a few days back while i was waiting for my mom outside a shopping center. i had no money hand in and he started talking to me. he told me that he had been looking for a job for so long but no one was willing to have him as an employee cuz everyone thought that having him as an employee would bring shame to them and would damage their business. it was quite saddening.

   Comment by Leena S. — July 19, 2009 #

   Reply
2. 

   No mercy for these jali hijras.

   Comment by Alam — July 19, 2009 #

   Reply
3. 

   Thank God! Poor people.

   Comment by Achelois — July 20, 2009 #

   Reply
4. 

   It’s true that many,including me,don’t feel comfortable being around hijras but that doesn’t mean they should be shamed and starved.Hoepfully life will improve for them.

   Comment by Lat — July 20, 2009 #

   Reply
5. 

   How do they do it in other countries?

   Comment by Tauqeer — July 22, 2009 #

   Reply
6. 

   Just noticed the hand of the guy in black. There are definitely some malformations in these poor people

   Comment by Achelois — July 24, 2009 #

   Reply
7. 

   at least something good can come out of this.

   Comment by Haleem — August 8, 2009 #

   Reply

Dead Sea - A Living Lesson for Homosexuals > GAY EXECUTIONS <

Married in Public GAY in Private ?

Married Gay Men and their social implications

Ashok Row Kavi ,Thursday, August 13, 2009, (New Delhi)

One of the most common problems I've faced as a community counselor is of married gay men and their issues. I still remember a young married man who wished to know how to "balance" his life with a wife at home and a male lover in the army, of all things. The issues got sticky as the army lover wanted to come and meet him at home now knowing that along with the parents he would end up meeting his "stepwife" (suatan in Hindi).

In a very forgettable instance, I remember a young man planning to marry a woman knowing full well that he would not meet his conjugal obligations. The idea behind the marriage was to grab an apartment offered by his employer at a throwaway prize for only their married employees. The plan was to divorce the hapless woman after a year and get in his gay lover to live-in an ever-so-happy pink future. When I pointed out that a divorce might mean the wife getting the apartment besodes alimony payments, he asked me about pre-nuptial contracts. When I said they were illegal everywhere in the Union of India except in Goa, he huffed out of the office and never returned, till eight years after he walked in a bitter man very sick with AIDS related complications.

The sad stories are still continuing and seem to provide an endless drama of sorrow and tragedy. My community based group, the Humsafar Trust, does what are called "tracking interventions" every 18 months. These are structured questionnaires which are answered by random men in sex sites through what are called "time-location- clustering", a social marketing techniques to get some credible information about any population.

What came about was startling. Around 50 to 55 per cent of men-who-had-sex-with-men (MSM) were mostly also having sex with women, Of these around 25 to 30 per cent were heterosexually married to women. Besides, all these bisexual men were having two female partners on an average every month and on an average these men were also having sex with between 5 and 7 male partners a month. In other words, there was a huge bridge MSM population that was having sex with both men and women.

Now just suppose that the HIV or STI prevalence among exclusive gay men was a high 20 per cent. This "high pressure zone" was the tank from which HIV and STIs "flowed across the bridge of bisexual men into the female population. That being the case, the government's HIV prevention programs had to be made more integrated by asking MSM to use condoms with both men and women. Besides, the female partners, the wives of MSM also had to be treated for STIs to prevent what was called "the ping pong effect".

In this, if the man alone went for treatment without getting his wife also treated, she might re-infect him even if he did not have sex outside marriage with men or women. The NACO's programs in Phase III of the National AIDS Control Program (NACP III) finally got on board the wives and female partners of MSM. However, it is the social implications of gay men married to women that will become more obvious as the days go by.

Men get married not only to reproduce and have stable social relationships but also for inheritance and familial stability. I many joint and extended families, young men do not get powers of attorneys in family business' till they are married and become "responsible house-holders". The imperative to marry is sometimes greater on men than women despite the fact that a single woman is more stigmatized than a bachelor.

However, as Section 377 is read down and society "unravels" into liberal globalised economies, things will rapidly change. It is not un-common to see parents now groping with young men who bring him their foreign male spouses to introduce them to parents. Also men living as "single" gay men in other cities cities also feel they have more space to have relations with both sexes without being hauled over to be forced into "arranged marriages".

Whatever it may be, the future will be fraught with a lot more social heartbreak, need or counseling and "upstream marriage services" before the dust settles after the re-interpretation of Section 377. The main goal though should be a mentally and physically healthier society, never mind the ranting and raving of the loony Right wing forces..

Section 377: Cabinet to take final call on govt stand

Section 377: Cabinet to take final call on govt stand
NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet will take a final call on decriminalising homosexuality as a ministerial panel set up to formulate the government’s response to Delhi high court legalising gay sex decided to put the matter before it as early as possible.

Sources said the law ministry would prepare a detailed note — explaining the HC ruling — for the Cabinet which will decide the government stand when the matter comes up before the Supreme Court on September 14. The three-member panel of law minister Veerappa Moily, home minister P Chidambaram and health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad met on Tuesday and “critically analysed” the pros and cons of the HC judgment.

“We have analysed the judgment with full objectivity — what the judgment had said and what it had not said. Section 377 was not sought to be abrogated. Section 377 remains. The only question is decriminalisation of private consensual sex between two adults,” Moily told reporters after the meeting.

He said the ministers were of the opinion that the matter would have to be presented before the Union Cabinet.

The SC, while hearing a PIL on the matter, had asked the government to present its stand on the issue and posted the matter for September 14. “So, having analysed the judgment, we are placing it before the Cabinet and will ask the Cabinet to take a decision,” Chidambaram said.

He said the HC had read down Section 377 in a manner that it was consistent with Article 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution. Chidambaram said there was a lot of misinformation about what the HC judgment had held. “One example is that the judgment has struck down Section 377, that is not correct,” he said. This was the second meeting of the three ministers, Moily said, adding, “We have not given any value judgment on the ruling.”

Law secretary T K Vishwanath briefed the ministers on the issue in the meeting.

The SC had on July 20 declined to pass an interim order to stay the HC verdict. The apex court said it would wait for the government to come out with a definite stand on the issue.

Section 377. Un-natural Offences

Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with ¹[imprisonment for life], or with imprisonment of either description for term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.

Explanation. -Penetration is sufficient to constitute the carnal intercourse necessary to the offence described in this section.

1. Subs. by Act 26 of 1955, sec.117. and sch., for "transportation for life" (w.e.f. 1-1-1956).

Gay law: Govt can't take decision in a hurry, says Moily

Hyderabad, India: June 29, 2009 - Government will not take a decision in a hurry to repeal the controversial Section 377 of IPC which criminalises homosexuality, Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily said on Monday following concerns voiced by some Christian and Muslim religious groups against the step.

The Government cannot take a decision in a hurry. We need to apply our mind," he told reporters here adding "we are examining it."

The Minister had stated in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday that a decision on the issue would be taken only after considering concerns of all sections of society, including religious groups.

A meeting of the Union Home, Health and Law Ministers is expected be held to have a re-look at Section 377 of IPC that prohibits sex between people of the same gender.

Asked whether Government was backtracking after favouring repeal of the law, Moily said his earlier remarks had been "misinterpreted".
The minister said he had stated that re-think is needed on many sections of the IPC. Specifically asked about Sec.377 of the IPC, the Minister said his response had been "we are examining".

Some Christian and Muslim leaders have opposed scrapping of the law.

Islam’s stand on gay sex conveyed to Centre: AIMPLB chief Maulana Rabe

Bhopal: The All-India Muslim Personal Law Board, (AIMPLB), is in touch with the Union Government over the issue of legalizing gay sex after the Delhi High Court's verdict decriminalising homosexual acts among consenting adults.

AIMPLB president Syed Mohammad Rabe Hasani Nadvi, who was here to condole the death of Bhopal-based eminent Islamic scholar Maulana Habib Rehan Nadvi Azhari, talking to this correspondent said the Board has conveyed to the Centre the Islamic point of view about gay sex and damaging consequences it will have on Indian society. The innocent Indian society should not be allowed to ape the western culture blindly, he opined.

Indians are God fearing people and the "homosexual acts are irreligious and unnatural. Decriminalising these would be a slap on the face of Indian society", he remarked.

Dead Sea can help Govt. take a wise decision on Gay Sex: 82 kilometers in length and 18 kilometers wide Dead Sea is thousands of foot deep and exists 1300 foot below the sea level in between Palestine and Jordan. Due to the salt ratio which is 8 times more than the other oceans in the world, the density of water in Dead Sea is enormously.....Read Full

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Religious leaders criticise ruling on gay sex

Delhi High Court legalises gay sex

When asked if AIMPLB would intervene in the case which is with the Supreme Court and become party to it, he said "No", but added, "We have explained to the Union Government the ill effects on society which would follow after the homosexual behaviour of consensual adults is decriminalised, which is a crime under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, (IPC).

Maulana Rabe hoped that good counsel would prevail and the UPA Government would not waver over the issue. It should stand firm and oppose tooth and nail the move of decriminalising the homosexual acts under 377 IPC, he said.

"Homosexuality was never accepted in the human history as it was "thought of as an extremely evil and criminal act", he asserted.

Maulana Rabe said the Government should take into account of the historical facts as stated in the Holy Quran about the Dead Sea that exists in Jordan since last thousands of years as a lesson for those who indulge in gay sex.

Meanwhile, he termed the proposed "Bhojan Mantra" to be recited by children before mid-day meals in schools as proposed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled Madhya Pradesh Government as against secular values. The Indian Constitution does not approve such gimmicks as practiced by the state governments, he added.

Pervez Bari is a Bhopal based journalist. He can be contacted at pervezbari@eth.net

Dead Sea: A Living Lesson for Homosexuals

82 kilometers in length and 18 kilometers wide Dead Sea is thousands of foot deep and exists 1300 foot below the sea level in between Palestine and Jordan. Due to the salt ratio which is 8 times more than the other oceans in the world, the density of water in Dead Sea is enormously high. So much so that a person floats on the surface and is not drowned in it.

Around four thousand years from now Prophet Looth - nephew of the Biblical Prophet Abraham was sent by the Almighty Allah as His Messenger to Sodom, a town 55 kilometers to Amman, the capital of Jordan in the Middle East. Quran has described the historical accounts of Prophet Looth and his folks in Surah Al-Ankaboot and Surah Hud with much details. People of Sodom indulged in homosexuality, a habit unheard of till then. Quran describes their unnatural act in these words:

“And recall Looth who said to his folks, you commit the lewdness such as no creature did before you.”

(Surah Al-Ankaboot, Ayah 28)

Prophet Looth tried hard so as to refrain them from indulging in homosexuality. However they declined to fall in line. Their insistence on lewdness invited the wrath of the Almighty Allah. Quran says:

“We are about to bring down upon folks of this township a fury from the sky because they are evil-livers.”

(Surah Al-Ankaboot, Ayah 34)

Before finally destroying the people of Sodom, Allah sent three Angels in the town, who were in juvenile human form. They knocked at Prophet Looth as guests. Prophet Looth, aware of the habit his folks were involved in, was distressed and helplessly tried to find ways to protect them. Quran describes the incidence as this:

“And his people came unto him, running towards him – and before then they used to commit abominations. He said: O my people! Here are my (native) daughters! They are purer for you. Beware of Allah and degrade me not in (the presence of) my guests. Is there not among you any upright man?”

(Surah Hud, Ayah 78)

At this point the Angels disclosed to Prophet Looth that they were actually Angels of Allah and had been descended to destroy the town. They advised Prophet Looth to leave the town with his companions. Once the believers abandoned the town, the Angels destroyed the whole town. Describing the incident Quran says:

“So when Our commandment came to pass, We overthrew (that township) and rained upon it stones of clay, one after another.”

(Surah Hud, Ayah 82)

The idea that homosexual intercourse was involved as at least a part of the evil of Sodom arises from the story in Genesis 19. It notes:

Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom - both young and old - surrounded the house. They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."

Moreover, under Hebrew references Wikipedia notes, many times in the Pentateuch and Prophets, writers use God's destruction of Sodom to demonstrate His awesome power.

Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy. Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me.

(Ezekiel 16.49-50)

The New Testament like the Old Testament also references Sodom as a place of God's anger against sin.

And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He [God] has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties.

(Jude 1:7, New American Standard Version)

Interestingly English word 'Sodomy', commonly used for homosexuality is derived from Sodom, the name of the town where Prophet Looth was sent as the Messenger. Describing Sodomy, Wikipedia notes, it is a term used today predominantly in law (derived from traditional Christian usage) to describe the act of anal intercourse, oral intercourse, or bestiality.

Majority of narrators believe that Dead Sea is exactly the place and the town that was earlier known as Sodom where Prophet Looth had been sent as the Messenger thousands of years before. After describing the accounts of Prophet Looth and his unfortunate folks, Allah concludes the whole incidence terming it a lesson for the mankind.

“And verily of that We have left a clear sign for people who have sense.”

(Surah Al-Ankaboot, Ayah 35)

We believe the Indian Government is neither senseless nor would be willing to invite the wrath of The Almighty and The All Powerful.