Church panel organises discussion on Sec 377

Among those who spoke on the issue were Mujtaba Farooq,secretary of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind,Christopher Rajkumar of the NCCI and Anuradha Mukherji of NAZ India,the petitioners who fought against the almost 150-year-old Article 377 in the Delhi High Court.

“The aim of this programme was to initiate a debate and discussion on the recent judgment of the court. We felt that reactions across the board were in haste and extreme. Therefore,we made an attempt to deliberate and take a holistic view on the issue by bringing various sides to the table,” Anjna Massih,secretary of the Commission on Policy,Governance and Public Witness,said.

Although the participants showed more of an accommodative attitude,the discussion brought to the fore friction between the ideologies of the panellists as far as homosexuality was concerned.

“The question before the church today is not about promoting or supporting any sort of sexuality but how to embrace sections of our society that are discriminated against on the basis of their sexual orientation,” Christopher Rajkumar said while addressing the gathering.

He said the church is perceived to be against the gay community but it is not. “The church might be against homosexuality but it is definitely not against the gay community. We want to discuss the issue in light of recent developments; the NCCI is not taking any stand as of now,” he said.

Mujtaba Farooq held similar views. “We believe that freedom has its limits. As far as the religious aspect is concerned,Islam is convinced that homosexuality is not natural,” he said. He said dialogue is a must and,perhaps,the only way to come to any sort of conclusion.

Anuradha Mukherji,however,countered these arguments by asserting that the decriminalisation of homosexuality does not mean that it is going to be promoted. “I don’t believe that anyone can change or promote a particular sexual orientation. What we are happy about is that now at least homosexuals will not be harassed or put behind bars just because of their sexual orientation. We must understand that it has been decriminalised and not legalised,” she said.

She also said the question is only about letting the LGBT community live with dignity,which is what the judgment now provides them with. “This is a positive change for sure,” she said.

Also present were the representatives of other religious and various socio-religious action groups. The panellists deliberated upon various other social dynamics and aspects related to homosexuality as well.