No Sex Please, We Are Indians!

NEW DELHI:No Sex Please: We Are Indians. This is the latest from the desk of the Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal.

Or it would seem so unless he can prove that he has sacked (August 31) his minister for Women and Child Development, Sandeep Kumar for rape or using his status to coerce women into sharing his bed. Till he can do this one is led to believe that what his 34 year old minister was indulging in was consensual sex between two or is it three adults when he was caught on camera in a sting operation that triggered the ‘off with his head’ command from the AAP super boss.

Is consensual sex between adults illegal? No. At least not till the time of going to press. So Mr. Chief Minister what exactly is this sacking all about? AAP spokesmen have termed the filmed antics of Kumar, by the way the youngest minister in the AAP cabinet, as “objectionable”. The punitive action against him has been taken to impress upon the janata at large that the Kejriwal led AAP government stands for “propriety” in public life.

This brings me to the pertinent question. Does sex between consenting adults transcend the boundary of propriety if it is in the privacy of a private bedroom? Going by what is in the public domain about the Sandeep Kumar saga this is what was going on when someone obviously with an agenda, decided to peep into his room via a camera lens. All that TV channels have aired, tantalizingly is a brief clip of Kumar in his briefs, making it to a bed or couch ( are we talking propriety here)? I presume channels know well that TV shows in most Indian homes is family time.

However short the clip, it has left many asking for more. What really happened at Kumar’s place? Investigative journalism at least, if not a probe by the Chief Minister’s men, calls for details so that the nature of the crime can be fixed before Kumar is hanged. Yes, we all know it is a “sex tape”. Is Kumar guilty of indulged in a power game to force a woman to give sexual favours in return for money, position or some good? Has he got the women in his room against their will? Is he exploiting them? Is he paying for sex? If the answer is an equivocal yes then Kejriwal has done well to sack him. Then sacking is not enough. It has to be followed by legal action. Kumar has to be booked under the given provisions. Why has this not happened so far?

It is known now that Kumar was sacked via a tweet from the CM half an hour after the CD of his amorous escapades was delivered to his doorstep. By whom, we are yet to be told by investigative journalists or AAP. The CD was also sent to TV channels to spice up the evening programmes. By then Kejriwal and the TV channels had tried Kumar and declared him guilty.

If what a little bird has been telling one and all is true, that Kumar’s wife, whose feet he reportedly touches every morning, is the one who ordered the sting operation to get even with her wayward husband, then the matter takes another turn. Should the CM intervene in a matter which is a husband-wife issue? It is for the wife to rightfully sue her husband, more so when obviously there is photographic evidence, for adultery. If found guilty the CM would be right in dismissing him or even suspending Kumar untill he was able to clear his name.

All this is not to be taken as holding a brief for a philanderer husband or rapist in politicians clothing or a perpetrator of the sex trade which is illegal in India, but an attempt to be cautious of self appointed guardians of morality.

Are we going to allow moral policing? Are we going to let politicians and fringe outfits of political parties, religious leaders decide the length of skirts girls wear, how and if at all Valentine’s Day should be celebrated by the young, how we should pray to our gods, what we should put on our dinner plates, what defines us patriots and what constitutes nationalism . The land of Kamasutra may soon have them deciding what sex is right and when it is “proper”.

Final question who decides the definition of “propriety”? This is not about condoning the alleged wrong doing of someone like Kumar, but it is about fixing his crime if there is one in the first place. As of today according to Indian law sex is a crime if it involves prostitution, rape, coercion and extortion.

This may well be the reason why the “private” lives of some of our former presidents, prime ministers, chief ministers and even senior members of the judiciary did not make it to newspaper pages though they kept the gossip mill running. Those days the visual media’s race for TRPs was yet to begin. It is a known fact that many who held high offices had liaisons or what is romantically called a love life. Since it was by mutual choice and consent nobody thought it their business to condemn it as long as it did not have an element of deceit or compromised national security or any other national interest.

Let us continue to celebrate personal liberty. You can’t hang people who are not on the same page when it comes to individual moral standards and values. What is proper for one may not be so for the other and vice versa. Only those who break the law especially when they are in public life should be handed out the harshest punishment provided in the law book. The self appointed guardians of morality should not be allowed to take over.