Christian and Muslim groups protest against SC verdict on section 377

The Supreme Court struck down the provisions of Section 377 which criminalised homosexual acts of consensual sex between adults. The Supreme Court judgement given on September 6^th had been welcomed throughout the length and breadth of India. Even Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh which is portrayed by the left dominated media as an orthodox institution, welcomed the decision to grant equal human rights to all citizens irrespective of their sexual preferences. Dissent against the decision of the Supreme Court however came from the real orthodox and patriarchal institutions who think it is their birth right to dominate every aspect of the lives of their followers. The voices against the judgement on Section 377 came from what the left biased media tries to present as the most “secular’ and “unbiased” section of the Indian society, Muslim and Christian organisations to be exact. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) used its official Twitter account to protest against the decision of the apex court and deemed the legalization of homosexuality as “immoral” and “against Indian valued and culture”.

Unable to control their frustration at the judgement given by the SC and also not intending to directly confront the apex court the AIMPLB instead chose to urge the central government to “pass a bill to protect the rights of women as they are the major victims of legalised homosexuality.” This is a bizarre statement to make but coming from the AIMPLB this is even worse as it has continued to defend practices which go against women such as Nikaah Halala and Instant Triple Talaq. It is nothing but the rant of an organisation which has proven to be redundant in the modern age and one which continues to mislead a vast majority of the Muslim population in the country. The condemnation of the SC judgement from the second largest community in India was not just restricted to the AIMPLB but even the English language newspaper which claims to be the leading English newspaper of the Indian Muslims, Milli Gazette, too termed it as “A step towards self destruction”.

Three Christian groups namely, The Apostolic Alliance of Churches, Utkal Christian Council and Trust God Ministries opposed the judgement to strip Section 377 of its legal validity. The Christian groups protesting against the judgement tried to justify their challenge by stating that any change to Section 377 should be carried out with Parliamentary backing and the SC was not competent to add or delete any words present in the statute. They chose to stick with their biased views under the garb of homosexuality leading to increase in cases of sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS. These Christian groups were nowhere to be found when allegations of rape had been levied on clergymen, priests and Bishops from Churches in Kerala. These organisations who just have conversion in their minds are against the basic idea of equality and freedom.

It is no surprise that 2 of the three Abrahamnic religions have chosen to oppose personal freedom and equality in the society especially since they have a long history of suppressing the free will when they are in power. It is no surprise that the SC judgement is being challenged and protested by members who have never enjoyed giving liberty to citizens when they held power. Even after the Muslim and Christian organisations had opposed the SC verditc, the liberals still chose to malign Hinduism.

Cartoonists like Manjul who tried to prop up Hindus and Hindu organisations as opponents of this judgement should be ashamed of siding with the ‘secularly’ right thing over the right thing to do.