This image of Vikram Seth boldly saying “Not A Criminal” is the cover image of India Today’s latest edition. The cover picture of the last issue of the year has already created a decent buzz on social media since yesterday. I was informed by Twitter when notable journalists were sharing on the 140 character network and at same time the image was doing the rounds on my Facebook feed.
Vikram Seth, the bestselling novelist and poet is showing his anger on the recent reinstatement by the Indian supreme court of a ban on gay sex.
In the second week of December, the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) community in the country who had pinned their hopes against the Supreme Court’s verdict on Section 377 of the IPC received a major blow. In a surprise move, Justice GS Singhvi of the Supreme Court set aside a landmark judgement by the Delhi high court that decriminalized homosexual sex between two consenting adults. This essentially means that gay sex in India stands illegal again.
The ruling has created a widespread disappointment among the LGBT community and believers of open society, the reactions were obviously felt on Twitter too. While the LGBT activists are not giving up and are planning to organize support for their ongoing movement, few popular brands in the country for the first time took a stand on social media to protest against the ruling.
Listed below are some of the tweets that have appreciated the bold move by Vikram and India Today.
India Today cover with Vikram Seth on Gay rights has just bowled me over pic.twitter.com/zTdvoDOdAl
— Kunal Majumder (@kunalmajumder) December 20, 2013
… And what a cover: http://t.co/5l5N9V0dgB Congratulations, Rohit Chawla and Vikram Seth.
— Pritish Nandy (@PritishNandy) December 20, 2013
Vikram Seth’s poweful India Today essay on section 377 http://t.co/kKBWrycV94
— William Dalrymple (@DalrympleWill) December 20, 2013
Kudos to Vikram Seth. India Today hits homerun with #Sec377 cover. Welcome change frm photos of men in masks kissing. http://t.co/oysGgsWaIV
— Sandip Roy (@sandipr) December 20, 2013