"It makes no sense. Corporate lawyers in India are paid upward of Rs 12 lakh a year; American law salaries (even post-Lehman) are close to a crore. And these are just starting salaries. Why, then, should India’s brightest young lawyers—the world at their feet—be working at minimum wage, even free, arguing for the decriminalisation of homosexuality in India? It just makes no sense.
A team of highly educated young lawyers has committed its time to this case. These young lawyers, four of whom are profiled here, are only a small slice of India’s horde of activist lawyers, many of whom have fought for years against Section 377.
VASUMAN KHANDELWAL, 27 ‘The argument for decriminalising homosexuality is a mainstream one’ MAYUR SURESH, 28 ‘Why is it the state’s business to regulate love?‘ SHIVANGI RAI, 27 ‘We’re not just activists. We are first and foremost lawyers‘ SHRIMOYEE NANDINI GHOSH, 29
Even these four have disparate stories. One is a hard-nosed Supreme Court lawyer, driven to the case by the obvious constitutional irregularity the cause. The others are more activist: a gay lawyer who wants to help his community, a feminist driven by middle-class guilt and pleasure, and a small-town girl hoping to empower herself and the world around her. But what links these stories is that all four could be anywhere else, earning far more. The global options available only highlight the choice they have made. The socially conscious lawyers of the 1970s fought on passion and belief. Version 2.0’s passion is matched by rigorous legal skills. This is their story."
Learn more about these 4 lawyers at 377 arguments, 4 Voices
Posts
1 comment:
Corporate money and power warp legal systems throughout the world. It's so frustrating.
Post a Comment