AIR presents struggles of LGBT people arrested under Section 377

New Delhi: Within days of the Supreme Court decriminalising homosexuality, All India Radio, the national public broadcaster, on Wednesday aired a special programme on the lives and struggles of LGBT activists who were arrested under Section 377.

The radio show, ‘Salakhon Se Dil Tak’, focused on the struggles of Lucknow-based LGBT activist Arif Jafar who was arrested under Section 377 and spent 47 days in prison in 2001.

The move to air such a programme was a surprise to many as the central government maintained silence on the day the apex court repealed several portions of Section 377. All India Radio is largely seen as toeing the government’s line in most cases.


The RSS, widely regarded as the BJP’s parent party, had sent out a strong statement on the judgement day, claiming homosexual relationships are against the nature, and while decriminalising was fine, such relationships have no acceptance in the Indian society.

The AIR show, which was hosted by RJ Simran, started with the lines “aam sa ladka hun main,aapki jaisi hai meri pasand; kyun bhed bhaav hota hai jab kehta hu mujhe bhi ladke hai pasand (I am an ordinary boy, with desires just as yours. Why am I discriminated against when I say I too like boys)”.

After that, Jafar said he was running a support group for the LGBT community in Lucknow in 2001, which included conducting regular meetings and group talks and running a newsletter for the community, when he was one day arrested by the police and charged under Section 110 (abetment to a crime), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and Section 377 (unnatural offences) of the Indian Penal Code.

“The police told the court that they had found us guilty of a conspiracy to promote homosexuality. To make everything believable, they made me hold a copy of ‘Kama Sutra’ in my hand. It was painful because every report that appeared the next day, showed us as criminals,” he said on the programme.

Jafar is one of the petitioners who had approached the Supreme Court urging it to reconsider a 2013 ruling which had upheld Section 377.

Prasar Bharati officials said the programme was aimed at bringing out the stories of people who have been imprisoned in the past. “The issue of Section 377 had captured the nation’s imagination in such a way that we felt it was important to highlight the struggles of those who were fighting for dignity,” an official said.

Reaching out to Muslim clergymen has been one of his biggest aims, Jafar, who is part of Naz Foundation International, told ET. “On the day the Delhi high court ruled in our favour in 2009, the ulema dedicated the session after Friday prayers to how we should take care of the community’s dignity and not indulge in mediabaazi.

This time, there were no such sessions. The sentiment won’t change if society doesn’t accept us.”

Jafar said: “It is important that in the din of celebration we don’t forget what people, who got arrested under Section 377, went through in jails with 60 other prisoners, forced to drink water flowing from drains, abused and beaten up.”