Why to ban freedom in a democratic India (section 377) ?

 Since 1991, the year I was born, protests have been initiated to decriminalize the section 377 of the Indian Penal Code; it startles me that the fight is still going on, even after 22 years.

Being a protagonist of the human rights, I strongly believe in the conviction that people have an absolute right to choose their lifestyle, sexuality and their sex – partner. A relieving moment, it was, to comprehend the judgement of 2nd July, 2009 by Delhi High Court upholding the concept of “inclusiveness” in the Indian Society and hence legalizing the rights of the homosexuals; but its non-acceptance by Supreme Court last year, is saddening and has left a stain on its basic understanding of a citizen as an individual.

Laws are of the people, by the people and for the people – every citizen counts when we refer “the people”- therefore, the law makers ought to be empathetic and respectful towards the needs, choices and rights of every citizen; including only the majority while sweeping away the rights of minorities, will not create a flawless rule, in fact it shall defeat the very purpose of justice.

Criminalizing the non-consensual sex is indeed the significant aspect of the Section 377 but punishing the homosexuals as “deviants” and taking away their right to consensual intercourse with a same sex partner and wanting them to choose a heterosexual partner under the pretext of “the order of nature”, as mentioned in the section 377, is building nothing but a discriminated and closed society. Hence, we need to wave off the 153 year old British ideology and embrace the broad concept of “individualism” in the light of articles 14, 15, 21 and 26 of the Constitution of India and thereby set an “equal and just” society.

Just because we have not witnessed this culture before can in no way can become a reason for resisting it even now. Although the older generation and some of the youngsters may find it a little weird to accept it but then we need to be mature and open to receiving newness in our culture and sexuality as well. Besides, by not accepting the individuality of gay community, we are somehow in a way promoting hardness amongst our people, where would they go and how will they respect their country and it's constitution which boasts personal freedom and rights. I don't think freedom is a passport only for a few. It has to be same and in equal extent for everyone; then why are the law-makers and law-interpreters are trying to alter the meaning of freedom? I'd want to as them – Is it right to make LGBTs feel alien in their own nation? Is a law worthy enough if it doesn't recognize the rights of your own people? Should there be any law at all to impose the sexuality on any damn citizen?

Let us just imagine a society respecting and accepting each other as they are and not trying to interfere unnecessarily through the means of law or whatever. I hope that is what Rabindranath Tagore had imagined or tried to imagine when he wrote-  " Into that heaven of freedom". I, thus, support the decriminalization of the section 377 of The Indian Penal Code and I would like to conclude with - “Discrimination is antithesis of equality and that it is the recognition of equality which will foster the dignity of every individual.” *

(*Line of ruling of Delhi HC Judgement)

(Article 14 –       Equality before Law

Article 15 –       Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race,                       

                           Caste, sex, place of birth.

Article 21 –       Protection of life and personal liberty

Article 26 –       Freedom of expression)

1HOUR = NO WHATSAPP +100 ACTIONS AND 1HOUR = 15 SUICIDES + 3 RAPES + 0 ACTIONS

Before newspapers published the details of the Facebook - Whatsapp deal; the applications themselves posted it and the word spread like a fire. Every 7 year old kid is aware of it, forget about others. Later, on the night of 22^nd February, 2014 there was some server issue with Whatsapp and the hype it created was flabbergasting. Many people got onto Facebook to confirm that it was a general problem and not their individual problem (after being confirmed they were obviously relieved), groups and fan pages started uploading funny images mocking at the Whatsapp buyout and the digital star - Mark Zuckerberg. The gloomy reaction was as if “The Whatsapp” was their virtual cosmos and somebody had just taken away their life from them.

It made me wonder for quite a lot of time how fast the people were in creating the much needed awareness and hats off to their Zuckerberg loyalty.

But I was thinking on the separate lines. What disturbed me were some of the gruesome facts –

• ·    -     A crime is recorded every three minutes in India.
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• ·       Every 22 minutes a woman is raped somewhere in India, every 76 minutes one child gets raped and every six hours a girl is subjected to domestic violence.
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• ·   -     15 Suicides took place every one hour during the year 2012. (More than one lakh persons (1, 35,445) in the country lost their lives by committing suicide during the year 2012). It is observed that social and economic causes have led most of the males to commit suicides whereas emotional and personal causes have mainly driven females to end their lives.

• ·   -    A total 3, 94,982 accidental deaths were reported in the country during the year 2012.
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• ·        2,44,270 cases were registered for various crimes against women during 2012 which includes - rape, abduction, kidnapping, dowry deaths, assault, insult to the modesty of women, cruelty by husbands, importation of girls, immoral traffic, commission of Sati and Indecent representation of  women.
• 
  
• ·   -    3,823 murders have been recorded in the category of the people aged above 50 years during 2008-2012 and 311 victims of culpable homicide not amounting to murder & kidnapping & abduction have been recorded in the category of the people aged above 50 years during 2009-2012.

 It is strange for a nation like India to hype the non functionality of a message application just for an hour, wherein almost 3 girls are raped and 20 crimes are committed in an hour all over the nation. It pinches deeply to notice that the people lately have been too busy to read or share a word of wisdom with the community and spread awareness of what’s happening around but the same people have enough time to chat on such messengers and even complain for its non performance. Had they complained for the non performance of the country, we’d have seen India as one of the developed countries long back.

Mistakes are pardonable but once. But it is observed that these mistakes are being passed on from generation to generation, as we youngsters are doing same things – talking about latest mobiles, new software, originating a genre of music and dance, keeping a tab on famous people and so on but we don’t know whom to vote, why to vote and the effects it has on the entire nation for years and years to come. We have got our “Cool” stuff to think about and the grave national issues are simply pretty uninteresting; in the next decade or two we as well will be witnessed whining about the system and the trend will go on and on like a legacy until we grab our minds now and sit thinking about it.

Let us at least take a few moments out of our lives for the real causes rather than the virtual ones. Although not everyone might want to work on it, but each one of us can spread the awareness and help campaign against evil. After all it’s our society, our people and our nation struggling and the good thing is this hardship can be a little short and easy, if and only if we start working on it hands in hands; for it’s a weak person who simply blames the present system but a strong one acts to change it for him and for the generations to come.

All in all, it’s never wrong to be tech-freak or music lover or any goddamn thing, but it is also important that we don’t get estranged with the things happening around us – we ought to bring a whirlpool for every oh-so-wrong thing, be it Whatsapp, Facebook,  politics, the crimes in the country and the world and whatever wrong comes our way and perhaps show our fidelity towards the online and the offline world.

(Source of Data - National Crime Records Bureau, India)

Confession with Confusion

www.atomictoasters.com

Each one of us masters in mystification. But being confused rightly is the art we need to learn. You'll be surprised to know that the majority of us are unaware of this particular skill and perhaps in trouble. Don’t suspect what you just read, believe me you can own your confusions; for it's absolutely okay to be confused but wittily. Once I asked a friend of mine, who was recently dumped by her boyfriend if she still loved him? She was pretty unsure of the answer and she said - "I know he has left me abruptly and that leaves him no room in my life." I asked her further, "Does that mean you don't love him?" Reflecting what to respond she got quite low and she subtly answered - "I don't know may be yes I do love him."                            Her feelings were a sort of labyrinth and so her life. Isn't it silly to be knowingly confused for the contemptible love? If she had to be confused she could have chose some better reason for that. Knowing a person isn't worth it, why to baffle emotions? Had she said - “It’s him- the right guy, but I don’t love him, so I ain't sure if I should go ahead.” This confusion sounds much better and simpler than the previous one, isn't it? It’s a palpable one.The point is bewilderment is good enough when there is a real call for. Ridiculous confusions lead us to wrong confessions in every arena of life, which ultimately puts us on for wrong decisions and wrong inferences. It annihilates our everyday life. When you know something needs to be off, put if off gracefully. Strain out perplexity only in the situations you know something needs to be done and then confess your confusions to people close to you and they’ll help you sort out the witty ones and do away with the baseless things. Think over the real problems and act on them like a knight in armour.  I recently read on some social website - 88% of problems are self-created and I bet many of them arise out of self inflicted confusions.

Image Courtesy - www.wattpad.com

It’s said with practice everything becomes a habit. We need to train our minds day after day to think the right things and practise the art of judging the witty confusions and turning them into a confession. You must be wondering why to confess the confusions, right? The science of confession plays an inevitable role to chuck out confusions and sort out a person’s brain. While confessing you’ll realise out of 10, approximately 3 things hadn't any need to be mentioned, approximately 4 things are simply because of over thinking or kind of mental/ emotional weariness; merely 3 things crave for your honest attention. Opening up makes us shrewd, pure and simple.
Just remember, a level-headed man energises its thoughts only for rational confusions and sets apart the unreasonable ones and you categorically ought to be one of them.