BJP president Rajnath Singh (File photo)
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court struck down a 2009 decision of the Delhi High Court, restoring the 1860 statute - Section 377 - of the Indian Penal Code that bans sex "against the order of nature."
While the BJP was initially cautious in taking a stand, its president Rajnath Singh said that if the government convenes a meeting on the issue, his party will support the ban. "If an all-party meeting is called, we will support Section 377 as we believe that homosexuality is an unnatural act. We cannot support it," Mr Singh said.
At a press conference after the top court's verdict, senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj had said, "The Supreme Court judgement says that if Parliament wants, it can change it. The government can call an all-party meeting to build a consensus on the issue."
Rajnath Singh's comments are now being treated as the BJP's official line on homosexuality. "What Rajnath Singh has said is the official stand. We have a culture and tradition and this goes against it. One cannot allow a new culture of this kind... against the established norms of society," party spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said.
The Congress has made its stand clear, with the party president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi opposed to the Supreme Court's view.
"My personal view is that these are matters of personal freedom and I think I would agree more with High Court," Rahul Gandhi said; his mother alluded to the "inclusive and tolerant" Indian culture while supporting gay rights.
Activists and gay-rights activists have been agitating against the Supreme Court ruling. Celebrated author Vikram Seth had slammed the BJP yesterday for its "deafening silence" on gay rights at an NDTV event where he was chosen as one of India's 25 Living Legends. (Read)
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