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Wednesday, December 11, 2013

When Love is a Crime

The Indian Supreme Court's ruling that overturned the landmark Delhi High Court verdict is a re-iteration of India's age old cultural stand against freedom of choice when it comes to one's personal life, more specifically... sex life. Interfering in other people's sex lives is a national pass time. We love to decide who other people should marry/have sex with. So in most Indian marriages, instead of Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, it is a case of Sab Ne Bana Di Jodi!

Sab Ne Bana Di Jodi
This is probably a cycle of abuse. Somebody else forced us into loveless sex, so lets do the same with others. Why should sex be a source of joy for somebody else, when it is a source of discomfort, boredom or pain for us? As a social collective, we are all survivors of passive sexual abuse and therefore perpetuate the cycle by punishing others.

We can't feel happy for others, especially when the source of their joy is a fulfilling sex life! We hate happy couples, straight or gay! Khap Panchayats, political goons, religious communities routinely bump off straight couples for the exact same reason they oppose homosexuality... They find it immoral for two consenting adults to discover joy in exploring each other's bodies. They equate love with lust and label all relationships that have not been designed/permitted by families/communities as immoral.

Equality?
So straight or gay, we are in this together! We have to fight for the Right To Love and this right has to be for everyone, irrespective of their gender. The current government is unlikely to take any bold legislative steps in an election year. Moreover, sexual minorities are not an important vote bank.

I'll go to bed with a heavy heart tonight, knowing that in my country, marital rape is legal, but sex between two consenting adults of the same gender is not. Since, when is love against the order or nature? In the land of the Kamasutra, why is love a crime?

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