I endorse. Sukla Sen Life Fellow, Indian Academy of Social Sciences, Allahabad
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?created&&suggest¬e_id=232112560436 Please write to <niveditamenon2...@yahoo.co.uk> to be a part of the campaign. Sukla Friends, I am writing to you, academics from all over India, to share my disquiet about the backlash from "religious leaders" against the recent Delhi High Court judgement reading down Section 377 to exclude consensual sex among adults in private. And now that the issue is in Supreme Court the government has started making noises about "we need to take into account what society feels" etc. But we are society too, and these "religious leaders" dont really represent anybody (who does Baba Ramdev represent, people who watch TV?). (It is another matter that the government does not feel the need to take into account what society feels before passing the SEZ Act, e.g.) It struck me that if we, as academics, could issue a brief statement welcoming the High Court judgement and its validation of the Constitution, we would demonstrate that "Indian society" speaks in many voices, including ours. It is crucial that we make our opinion visible immediately since the appeal has gone to the Supreme Court. I have drafted a brief statement (below) that I request you to read and endorse if you feel you can, along with your affiliation. I assure you it will make an impact. If you would like to tweak/revise the statement in any way, do send your suggestions. But please remember the statement has to be brief, so we cant make *all* our views clear here, and do respond within a couple of days - by Tuesday evening (14th). The statement already has a few signatures, and the list is growing. Thanks, Nivedita Statement --------------- We, teachers from universities all over India, researchers and academics, welcome the Delhi High Court judgement reading down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code to decriminalize consensual sex among adults in private. The judgement held that “Section 377 IPC, insofar as it criminalises consensual sexual acts of adults in private, is violative of Articles 21, 14 and 15 of the Constitution.” In other words, the court believes that continuing to criminalize citizens on the grounds of their sexual preference violates the Fundamental Rights to life and personal liberty, to equality, and the right not to be discriminated against on non-relevant grounds. Sexual preference and identification is only one part of people’s identities. We believe that a modern democracy must respect diversity regardless of whether consensus exists in society on the desirability of each such practice, provided such practices respect the personhood of others. There need not be consensus in society, for instance, on vegetarianism as desirable, provided that vegetarians have full opportunities to follow their dietary preference. Similarly, if “religious leaders” believe that homosexuality is not sanctioned by the scriptures, they have the right to propagate their views, provided that these views are not taken as having the final sanction on the issue for society as a whole. Our community has had a hitherto silent engagement with the pain, harassment, fear and discrimination that comes with being non-heterosexual/queer. We know students, colleagues, friends and family members who are queer, or may be queer ourselves. We state emphatically that Section 377 as it exists is anti-democratic, and reiterate our support for the Delhi High Court judgement. 1. Nivedita Menon, Professor, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University 2. Ranjani Mazumdar, Associate Professor of Cinema Studies, School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University 3. Shahana Bhattacharya Assistant Professor, Department of History, Kirori Mal College, Delhi University 4. Aditya Nigam, Fellow, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi 5. Mohinder Singh Fellow, IIAS, Shimla and Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Ramjas College, Delhi University 6. Parth Shil, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Hindu College, Delhi University 7. Pratiksha Baxi, Assistant Professor, Centre for Law and Governance, Jawaharlal Nehru University 8. Janaki Srinivasan,Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Panjab University 9. PK Datta, Professor, Department of Political Science, Delhi University 10. Mohan Rao, Professor, Centre of Social Medicine, Jawaharlal Nehru University 11. Satish Deshpande, Professor, Dept of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to greenyouth@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to greenyouth+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---