New Delhi: In a surprising reply to a question on whether homosexuality should remain a criminal offence under Article 377 of the Indian Penal Code, the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak joint general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale said that sexual preferences are of personal choice and it should not be considered a criminal offence.
“I don’t think homosexuality should be considered a criminal offence as long as it does not affect the lives of others in society,” Hosabale said, speaking at a media conclave Thursday.
“Sexual preferences are private and personal. Why should RSS express its views in a public forum? RSS has no view on that. It is for people to have their way. Personal preference of sex is not discussed in RSS and we don’t even want to discuss that,” the RSS leader added.
Hosabale’s statement comes at a time when senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor's private member's bill seeking to decriminalise homosexuality in Lok Sabha was voted out at the introduction stage itself for the second time.
India falls into the minority category of 70 nations where homosexuality is a criminal offence. Section 377 of Indian Penal Code terms homosexuality as "unnatural" and carries a maximum punishment of 10 years in jail. There have been demands by activists within the country to decriminalise homosexuality.
In February this year, the Supreme Court adopted a positive approach as it agreed to hear the plea against gay sex ban while it referred it to a larger bench.
Following the court order, Union Minister for Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu added that homosexuality was a "humane issue" and the government had not formulated any view on the matter so far.
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