The Prime Minister
South Block, Raisina Hill,
New Delhi,
India-110 011
14 October 2008

CC
Minister for Health and Family Welfare
Minister for Home Affairs
Minister for Law and Justice

Sir,

Ever since the prestigious Rhodes Scholarships were first given to Indian students in 1947, its recipients have contributed in many different ways to the progress of India, in education, the civil service, science, and business. We, the undersigned, belong to this diverse community of Indian Rhodes Scholars but write in our individual capacity as Indian citizens with a commitment to public service and the fundamental principles of the Indian constitution -- liberty, equality, justice, and the dignity of the individual. We believe that it is clear what these principles demand of us today: to join the growing body of concerned citizens that calls for the decriminalisation of consensual sex between adults of the same sex by the reading down of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code.

As the historic case over the constitutionality of Section 377 now awaits the attention of the Delhi High Court, we write to register our profound disagreement with the language of the Additional Solicitor General P. P. Malhotra, who, in articulating the government's stance, has argued that reading down the section could 'open the floodgates for delinquent behaviour and be misconstrued as providing unbridled licence for homosexual acts'. He has argued, in addition, that strong social disapproval and the 'right to health of society' is sufficient reason to justify the treatment of homosexuals as criminals.

We have long been grateful for your involvement in the selection process for the Rhodes Scholarships, some of whose recipients are gay or lesbian. We greatly respect your contributions to the public life of our country and find it difficult to believe that you and your cabinet share the views expressed by the Additional Solicitor General.

Contrary to Shri Malhotra's insinuation that opposition to Section 377 comes from some vocal minority of 'delinquent' individuals and interest groups, this campaign is a grassroots movement uniting people from every section of society. Moreover, the demand to read down Section 377 comes not only from civil society but from within the highest circles of government -- including the National Commission for Women, the 172nd report of the Law Commission of India, the Health Ministry in this government, and the Planning Commission in its recommendations for the 11th Five Year Plan. The undersigned wish to add their voices to the chorus calling for an end to a law that, as the Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has pointed out, 'goes not only against fundamental human rights [but] also works sharply against the enhancement of human freedoms'.

The health of our society, our democracy, and our polity, requires that we recognise the historic nature of this moment. Section 377 is a colonial relic, an imposition of un-Indian Victorian attitudes towards human sexuality that even the United Kingdom rejected in 1967. The government today has the unique chance to extend the fundamental right to equality and freedom to Indians who have long been discriminated against. This discrimination is real and manifests itself in police arrests, the threat of blackmail, and brutal violence, among other things, relegating India's sexual minorities to second-class citizenship. We recall the courage of earlier governments in putting principle above immediate popularity in fighting for an end to institutionalised caste- and gender-based discrimination. We urge this government, a government committed to the cause of social and political justice, to seize the moment and make the historic decision to end discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Yours sincerely,

Abhilash Mishra (2008), Oxford
Amal Isaiah (2006), Oxford
Amit Upadhyay (2001), Hyderabad
Anasuya Sengupta (1996), Berkeley & Bengaluru
Anisha Sharma (2007), Oxford & Kolkata
Antara Datta (2002), Cambridge (MA) & Kolkata
Arghya Sengupta (2008), Oxford
Aveek Sen (1989), Kolkata
Dev Gangjee (2000), London
Dev Lahiri (1975), New Delhi
Girish Karnad (1960), Bangalore
Lavanya Rajamani (1996), New Delhi
Megha Kumar (2003), Oxford
Meghana Narayan (2000), London & Bangalore
Nakul Krishna (2007), Oxford & Bangalore
Neel Mukherjee (1992), London
Neha Jain, Freiburg, Germany
Niharika Gupta (2001), New Delhi & Kolkata
Prashant Sarin (2001), New Delhi
Prithviraj Datta (2004), Cambridge (MA)
Raghav Shankar (2007), Oxford
Rahul Rao (2001), London & Bangalore
Rakesh Ankit (2005), Oxford
Rakhi Mehra (2001), Boston (MA)
Rishab Gupta (2008), New Delhi
Sandeep Sreekumar (1999), India
Saranya Sridhar (2003), Berkeley (CA)
Seshadri Vasan (1998), Reading
Skanda Gopal (2004), London
Somak Ghoshal (2004), Kolkata
Sudhir Krishnaswamy (1998), Bangalore
Tarunabh Khaitan (2004), Oxford
Thomas Sebastian (1999), Geneva
Upamanyu Mukherjee (1996), Coventry