“The Indian Penal Code as it criminalizes consensual sexual acts of adults in private is violative of Article 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution.”  These words in the Delhi High Court judgment of 1st July, 2009 have put the whole position clearly and unambiguously.  Indeed, it is surprising that an outmoded colonial law introduced during Victorian times should have remained on our Statute Book for so many years since independence.   The motivation for the law by our former colonial masters was clearly to prevent any physical contact between the young British civil and military officers who came out to administer India and the ‘natives’, and it was repealed in the United Kingdom decades ago.  We   are perhaps the last democratic country in the world to have decriminalized gay sex, and now join 126 countries around the world that have already done so. This will come as a long awaited relief to a particularly vulnerable section of society which, even if it is pegged at 2% of our population against the generally accepted figure of 10%, would involve over 20 million people.

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The judgment has sparked off a lively debate on television which, along with the printed media, has been largely supportive.  Some points need to be clarified.  The judgment in no way propagates gay sex; all it does is to ensure the fundamental right of equality, non-discrimination and personal liberty guaranteed to every Indian citizen under our Constitution.  It is also important to note that it does not decriminalize non-consensual sex or pedophilia, which will remain cognizable offence subject to severe punishment.

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The argument that some religious leaders are against the judgment cannot become a deciding factor.  I recall that when in the early 50s, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar piloted the Hindu Court Bill through Parliament, there were a large number of Hindu leaders including some Shankaracharyas who were strongly opposed to it, as was the then President.  Nonetheless, they pushed it through, thereby ensuring that 800 million Hindus in India today live in a much more equitable and fair society than heretofore.  Similarly, all Christian denominations are not against gay sex.  The Roman Catholic Church certainly is, and it is also against contraception, but that does not mean that we should stop our family welfare and condom distribution programmes. As far as the Muslim community is concerned, the conservative leaders will certainly take a rigid attitude, but younger people are likely to be less dogmatic, and if one looks at the great Sufi tradition within Islam, we find that they celebrated love, both human and divine, in all its multifaceted glory.

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The argument that this is against nature is also not viable.  To begin with, for the gay or LGBT community, their particular lifestyle is apparently as natural as heterosexual relationships are to the rest of society.  Also this argument of nature can be pushed to extremes.  It is not ‘natural’ to wear clothes; or to eat cooked food. Nature is much more varied and inclusive than many realize, and alternative sexuality has been found in almost all cultures, ancient and modern, around the world.

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It is often forgotten that some of the greatest artists and musicians, rulers and conquerors, philosophers and poets in history have been gay or bisexual.  Same-sex love formed the basis of the ancient Greek civilization that produced such great thinkers as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle who laid the philosophical foundations of Western civilization.  In India also, the Kama Sutra clearly mentions same-sex love in a very matter of fact manner, and the Khajuraho sculptures depict it graphically. In our magnificent iconography, the ultimate integration of the masculine and feminine archetypes is found in the great concept of Shiva Ardhanareshwara, while in the broader philosophical context, the Vedanta believes that the divine resides in all human beings, in which case discrimination on any basis including sexual preference is unacceptable.
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To conclude, therefore, one can say that the historic judgment of the Delhi High Court marks a positive step in widening the scope of our inclusive democratic structure, and rescuing millions of citizens from the shadow of an archaic and outmoded colonial legacy.

The Bhagavadgita has a very cool and unsentimental approach to death.  In chapter two, Sri Krishna tells Arjuna - “For one who is born death is assured; for one who dies rebirth is assured; therefore, for what is inevitable, you should not grieve”.  However, human relations are not as simple as this advice may sound.  In life we go through multiple experiences with varying degree of intimacy.  The husband and wife relationship is the closest physically, emotionally and spiritually, in a way symbolizing the union of male and female as in the unique figure of Shiva Ardhanarishwara.  Recently my wife departed during the 60th year of our marriage.  Having wedded when we were teenagers, we virtually grew up together and had become an integral part of each other’s lives.  As I watched my elder son light the funeral pyre, it struck me sharply that fire defined our relationship 60 years apart.  We were married by walking seven times around sacred fire, which was, as it were, witness to the union.  This time again fire was present and witnessed her departure.

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In the Vedic tradition, fire has always been held to be sacred, and Sri Aurobindo calls his translation of the Vedic verses ‘Hymns to the Sacred Fire’.  In the Vedas themselves there are many hymns directed towards Agni which was considered to be the interlocutor between the human and the divine, and which, through the Yagna, conveyed human aspirations to the higher power.  In several western civilizations also fire has occupied a very special place.  We may recall how the brave Prometheus brought down the fire from heaven to humanity, for which the jealous Gods have punished him with eternal torment and torture.  Also, the Zoroastrians still have their fire temples.  The discovery of fire by early humans in fact marked a major milestone in the evolution of human civilization.

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With its dual quality - benign as well as destructive - fire was always cherished.  To quote a Vedic hymn to Agni from the Rigveda:

“Virtuous Agni, we set thee, a Sage, around us as a fort, thee triumphant in thy colour, day by day, destroyer of the treacherous foe.  Through Agni man finds prosperity, nourishment from day to day, glory and greatest pride in heroes.  To thee, Agni, dispeller of night, we come with prayer day by day, offering thee our obesience.” (Rigveda VI.44)

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Shiva Nataraja carries the fire in one of his hands and is often depicted dancing within a fiery nimbus.  The famous Isha Upanishad closes with the verse - “O Agni, lead us by the fair path that we may reap the good we have sown.  Thou knowest all our deeds.  Lord, destroy all crooked going sin in us.  We salute Thee with our words again and again.”

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Let us also keep in mind that the outer fire is but a symbol of the spiritual flame that burns in the deepest recesses of our hearts, whether or not we are aware of it, and that fanning the spiritual spark into the blazing fire of divine realization is the true, deeper purpose of our existence in this time life dimension.  However, there are lower dimensions of fire also, as in the insatiable desire for worldly possessions, or negative aspects such as emotionally disturbing manifestations of anger and revenge.   Robert Frost has a small but evocative prose entitled Fire & Ice.  It goes like this -

Some say the world will end in fire
some say in ice.
From what i’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favour fire.
Though if it had to perish twice
I think I know enough of hate
to say that for destruction ice
is also great and would suffice.

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On our decision as to which dimension of fire we choose, will depend the contours of our inner life.

Lord Shiva, one of whose appellations is Mahakaleshwar, the Great God of Death, has decreed that my beloved wife Yasho should move on in the sixtieth year of our marriage. We wedded as teenagers and virtually grew up together. It has been a unique blessing for me to have partaken of her love, generosity and compassion. She departed surrounded by her loving family including all six grandchildren. While we mourn her passing, we wish to celebrate her vibrant and luminous life as will her numerous friends and well-wishers around the world. As the Upanishad says “May her journey into light be auspicious”.

Karan Singh

On behalf of the Temple of Understanding, an international Interfaith organization of which I am Chairman, and on my own behalf, I strongly condemn the recent incidents of violence by organizations that claim a Muslim or Hindu name but act in a barbaric fashion. Attacks upon defenseless churches, burning and raping are a disgrace to a religion that prides itself on its long history of tolerance and non-violence, and terrorist attacks around the country which target innocent citizens and created a general sense of insecurity are the negation of religious or spiritual values.

Stern measures by the State and Central Governments are needed to quell such activities and bring the guilty to book. If, in fact, literature is being circulated denigrating and insulting Hindu deities then action on that front also needs to be taken urgently under the law.

We fervently appeal to all right-thinking citizens, regardless of their religious or caste affiliations, to rally in condemning all such activities that sully the fair name of Indian culture and bring our great civilization into disrepute around the world.

 Dr. Karan Singh
9th September, 2008