Category: I Am

377

Published on by Harpreet ChhachhiaLeave a comment

I have been a part of the gay community since ’98. I know all there is to know about Article 377. There were three judgements passed on 377 – one in 2009, one in 2011 and one in 2018. The last of which was brilliant and removed the criminalisation of CONSENSUAL sex between two adults irrespective of gender.

Section 377 is a British colonial penal code that criminalized all sexual acts “against the order of nature”. The law was used to prosecute people engaging in oral and anal sex along with homosexual activity.

As per the Supreme Court Judgement since 2018, the Indian Penal Code Section 377 is used to convict non-consensual sexual activities among homosexuals with a minimum of ten years imprisonment extended to life imprisonment. In its ruling, the Supreme Court stated that consensual sexual acts between adults cannot be a crime, deeming the prior law “irrational, arbitrary and incomprehensible.”

In 2018, the Supreme Court decriminalised consensual sex amongst homosexual couples.

But Section 377 was retained in the IPC, criminalising sexual offences against animals, men, and transgender individuals.

On August 11 this year, the government introduced three criminal law bills in the Lok Sabha to revamp the criminal justice system and replace the Indian Penal Code, Indian Evidence Act, and Code of Criminal Procedure.

The bills were then referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, and after several rounds of discussions, the Committee suggested changes, including the retention of Section 377 in BNS.

The three bills were withdrawn by the Union government earlier this week, citing that they will be reintroduced with revisions. However, the new draft of BNS has no mention of Section 377.

Lawyer and rights activist Aravind Narrain said that the new Bill need not retain Section 377, but that a new provision must be introduced as part of the laws on rape to criminalise sexual offences against men and transgender individuals.

“The present rape laws only cover rape against women. The aim is to cover this gap and make rape against all persons an offence. Therefore, a new provision criminalising rape against all persons, not just women, must be brought in. This would cover everyone who faces sexual violence,” Aravind told TNM.

Just goes to show that most people don’t think that “real men” don’t get raped. And if they do, then asking for justice is not the way to go. “Be a man” and keep it all in. Sigh. I can’t even call it misandry. Just an appalling defeat of human rights.

New Domain, Theme and Post

Published on by Harpreet ChhachhiaLeave a comment

I was just reading a post here on how I used to write copiously when I was young. I loved writing. I still do. But then, I used to use pen and paper and could write furiously. Then I was gifted my first typewriter by an aunt. I used that to write three novels and several shorts. I would clack at it through hours at a time. Then I bought my first computer at the age of 21. I loved it. Loved the process of seeing beautiful fonts enfold out a story.

I lost touch with writing. Drawbacks of a keyboard. Now my pen cannot match the speed of my thoughts, but the keyboard can. There are pros and cons to everything. But I still respect the power of the written word. Handwritten letters are a whole different kind of love story. That brings me to my point.

The wonders and horrors of technology. Everything comes with a pro and a con. I create blogs. Love the process of creation. But it literally comes with a price. My subscription to the domain and usage plans expired this May. I lost out on the name of the blog. The theme I was using I couldn’t afford any more. WordPress knows its business. Makes me suffer. So I had to restructure the entire thing. I am loving and hating the process all at once. Creating and deconstructing.

Thought of writing this blog post. Everything in life comes with a price. Sometimes I can afford it. Sometimes I cannot. But hopefully, in the process of the wear and tear and struggle, I can create something. The art of creation is a violent one, after all. It births out of chaos. So here is hoping to another beginning and an eventual end.

Bella

Published on by Harpreet ChhachhiaLeave a comment

The old pass and make way for the new. Such is life. But there are links we all have to our past lives that live on with age… once the old fades, those links leave the realm of collective reality. There are links which we have to those we love. We connect people and animals and objects with love. When one goes, the link lives on in the other. When the other passes, it lives on with me.

The day before, I heard news of my friend’s dog passing away. My friend and I have fallen apart. It happens to the best of us. But when my sister gave me the news of his dog passing, I felt terribly sad. I remember her as a pup, and I had met her on the day he got her home. She formed a link with my fourth furkid, Zoe. Zoe passed away in 2013… and now Bella has passed away.

She was a bossy, dominating, brindle boxer. Much like her dad. Of course, he isn’t brindle, or a boxer. But he might as well be one. It irks me that I cannot pick up the phone and call him. It irks me that he let go of our friendship of over 20 years and did not see it fit to call me when Bella was sick. Human beings essentially suck. Me, included.

But I am just putting this out there, that life is cyclical. I have faced the loss of a furkid. I know it is devastating. I wish I could overcome my fear of rejection to pick up the phone and tell him how wonderful I thought Bella was. That she has been on my mind ever since I found out about her passing. She was a beautiful, obedient, wonderful doggo. With her goes another life that was linked to my Zoe, my aunts and a different life. She will be missed. And she will be remembered in love.

I am sorry for your loss, Bhav. And I am sorry I failed to call.