SECTION 377 CONTROVERSY
Animals Obey Laws of Nature, Humans Defy
It is a great travesty of reality that man, the social
animal, takes pride in violating the laws of nature which animals religiously
adhere to. He is paying a heavy prices for exercising this license in various
forms — erratic weather conditions and fury, rising global temperatures, melting
glaciers, rising sea water level, decreasing forest and green cover together
with flora and fauna, havoc causes by floods and the like.
Sex may be the animal instinct yet it is the
animal which has never transgressed the contours set by nature. Sex by itself is
not enjoyable except with mutual consent. An animal does indulge in natural sex
but only with the partner's acquiescence. No animal sex is possible without the
nod of the other party and, therefore, rape is something impossible in animal
kingdom. Sexual assault has thus become the exclusive domain of mankind. An
animal never indulges in unnatural sex. But it is only the human beings some of
whom thrive and pride in unnatural sex.
The law of nature prevails even in the realm where
law of the jungle is supreme. No police force is there to enforce this law.
Every animal by nature — and not by the rod of law — abides by the diktats of
nature. It does not indulge in what is against the commandment of Mother Nature.
In fact, acting against the spirit of nature is not in the blood of animals. A
loin cannot behave like a sheep and vice versa. A jackal may be cunning but it
is its nature, not against the law of nature.
During one of my visits to Nandan Kanan, the
famous natural forest in Odisha, the forest officer in charge told me that as
against the general impression, it is the lioness which hunts its prey. After
killing she offers it to the lion to eat it first. It is only after the lion
has his belly full that he leaves it for the lioness. After that comes the turn
of the pubs, there too the male eats to his heart full first and then the
female. This is the law of nature. Nobody has taught it. But can man change it?
Perhaps, tomorrow, some animal rights activists may crusade against this gender
bias among the royal family of the king of jungle.
At the same time, while an animal may be tamed
into obeying man yet it cannot indulge in unnatural sex. But human being is an exception;
an urge for sex against the law of nature can get ignited in him/her.
Hypocrisy is a characteristic of human nature, not
of animals. That is why on the one hand, we cry hoarse for maintaining
ecological balance and environment by not doing anything against nature and, on
the other, in the matter of sex, sky is the limit for outrage. We are ready to
tear apart the axioms of nature. Sex urges of man have started transgressing
the limits of nature and he is seeking pleasure in unnatural things.
Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code provides for
punishment for sex "against the order of nature with any man, woman or
animal". Those in favour of gay sex rights are
demanding the repeal of Section 377 altogether. In that case, having sex with
animal too would be legal. Would humanity degrade to that extent in the name of
modernity and human rights?
