In back-to-back statements between Thursday and Friday, the RSS moved from saying that homosexuality was a personal matter and should not be a crime to calling it a psychological problem that should be treated and taking a stand against gay marriages.
On Friday morning, RSS joint general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale tweeted, “Homosexuality is not a crime, but socially immoral act in our society. No need to punish, but to be treated as a psychological case.”
He added in another tweet: “Gay marriage is institutionalisation of homosexuality. It should be prohibited.”
A day earlier, Mr. Hosabale had taken what seemed like a soft line on homosexuality, replying to a question at an India Today event that it be should not be considered a criminal offence.
>Section 377 of the IPC criminalises sexual acts against the order of nature, and there has been much controversy over whether this should be so for acts between consenting adults.
In reply to a question on the issue on Thursday, Mr. Hosabale had said that sexual preferences are a personal matter and the organisation doesn’t hold any view on it.
“I don’t think homosexuality should be considered a criminal offence as long as it does not affect the lives of others in society,” he had said at the India Today Conclave. “Sexual preferences are private and personal. Why should RSS express its views in a public forum? RSS has no view on that. It is for people to have their way. Personal preference of sex is not discussed in RSS and we don’t even want to discuss that.”
Before Mr. Hosabale's statement, Ram Madhav, then with RSS, had taken a similar line, saying that criminalisation of homosexuality was debatable.
In recent months, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Union Minister Prakash Javadekar also took a liberal line on homosexuality.
Mr. Jaitley had said that the Supreme Court's setting aside the Delhi High Court's reading down of Section 377 of IPC needed to be “reconsidered”.
