TOPIC OF THE DAY:- Section 377: Drawing a curtain on the past
In striking down Section 377, the Supreme Court has recognised the Constitution’s extraordinary transformative power
In a rousing address to the Constituent Assembly on November 25, 1949, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar laid out his transformative vision for the Constitution. The document, he said, ought to serve as a lodestar in theendeavour to make India not merely a political but also a social democracy. He saw liberty, equality and fraternity as principles of life, as a collective “union of trinity”. “To divorce one from the other,” he said, “is to defeat the very purpose of democracy.” Now, 71 years after Independence, these values that Ambedkar saw as integral to India’s republic, find new meaning in a remarkable judgment of the Supreme Court inNavtej Singh Johar v. Union of India. Not only has the court struck down the wretchedly wicked Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, insofar as it criminalises homosexuality, but it has also recognised the Constitution’s enormous and extraordinary transformative power. In doing so, the court has provided us with a deep expression of democratic hope. And perhaps we can finally believe, as Nehru said, in his famous midnight speech, that “the past is over, and it is the future that beckons to us now”.
Macaulay’s shadow
Plainly read, Section 377 punishes with imprisonment for life or for a term of up to 10 years any person who voluntarily has “carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal”. Over the years, the term, “against the order of nature”, has been used to persecute members of the LGBTQ community, treating any non-procreative sexual act by them as acts of crime. Thomas Macaulay, the law’s drafter, despised the idea of even a debate on the legislation’s language. “We are unwilling to insert, either in the text, or in the notes, anything which could give rise to public discussion on this revolting subject,” he wrote in his chapter on “unnatural offences”. “…We are decidedly of the opinion that the injury which would be done to the morals of the community by such discussion would far more than compensate for any benefits which might be derived from legislative measures framed with the greatest precision.”
Like many other colonial-era laws, therefore, Section 377 was inserted with a view to upholding a distinctly Victorian notion of public morality. But post-Independence, the law remained on the books, as an edict that the Indian state saw as intrinsic to the enforcement of its own societal mores. The criminal law, the government believed, was a legitimate vehicle through which it could impose and entrench in society its own ideas of what constituted a good life. Societal morality, to it, trumped constitutional guarantees of equality and liberty.
MEANING AND WORDS
1) lodestar
Meaning : a star that is used to guide the course of a ship, especially the pole star.
Synonyms : design , symbol
Antonyms : guess
Example : “she dominated his existence as chief muse and intellectual lodestar”
2) endeavour
Meaning : try hard to do or achieve something.
Synonyms : effort struggle
Antonyms : idleness
Example : “he is endeavouring to help the Third World”
3) trinity
Meaning : the three persons of the Christian Godhead; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Synonyms : triad
Example : “the wine was the first of a trinity of three excellent vintages”
the state of being three.
4) wretched
Meaning : (of a person) in a very unhappy or unfortunate state.
Synonyms : deplorable , abject
Antonyms : blessed
Example : “I felt so wretched because I thought I might never see you again”
5) beckons
Meaning : make a gesture with the hand, arm, or head to encourage or instruct someone to approach or follow.
Synonyms : attract , entice
Antonyms : repel
Example : “Miranda beckoned to Adam”
6) carnal
Meaning : relating to physical, especially sexual, needs and activities.
Synonyms : earthly , lewd
Antonyms : decent
Example : “carnal desire”
7) persecute
Meaning : subject (someone) to hostility and ill-treatment, especially because of their race or political or religious beliefs.
Synonyms : harass , injure
Antonyms : assist
Example : “his followers were persecuted by the authorities”
8) despised
Meaning : feel contempt or a deep repugnance for.
Synonyms : deride , detest
Antonyms : admire
Example : “he despised himself for being selfish”
9) notion
Meaning : a conception of or belief about something.
Synonyms : assumption , approach
Antonyms : being
Example : “children have different notions about the roles of their parents”
10) intrinsic
Meaning : belonging naturally; essential.
Synonyms : inherent
Antonyms : acquired
Example : “access to the arts is intrinsic to a high quality of life”
11) entrench
Meaning : establish (an attitude, habit, or belief) so firmly that change is very difficult or unlikely.
Synonyms : define , ingrain
Antonyms : discourage
Example : “ageism is entrenched in our society”
12) trump
Meaning : (in bridge, whist, and similar card games) play a trump on (a card of another suit).
Synonyms : ascendancy , choice
Antonyms : block
Example : “why on earth did you trump my ace?”
