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Russian Muslim Leader Calls For Gays to be “Thrashed”
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Mufti Calls For Violence if Moscow
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MOSCOW, February 15, 2005 (GayRussia.ru) – Russian Muslims could arrange serious protest actions if representatives of “sexual minorities” try to stage a Gay Pride parade later in Moscow in May, according to Interfax news agency following an outburst from an extremist religious leader. “Protests of Muslims can be even sharper than those abroad against scandalous cartoons”, the Supreme Mufti of the Central Spiritual Directorate of the Muslims of Russia, Talgat Tajuddin, told Interfax on Tuesday. “The parade should be allowed in no circumstances,” he insisted. “If they go into the streets, they should be thrashed. All normal people will do it, both Muslims and the Orthodox”, the mufti suggested. He noted that representatives of sex minorities “could do whatever they like at home or in any secluded place. However, if they go into the streets and start campaigning, society should isolate them so that young people do not follow them’. Tajuddin is against gays’ idea to claim their rights by public actions. “They have no rights whatsoever as they overstepped the bounds of decency. Untraditional orientation is considered a crime against God”, the mufti said. He added that Prophet Muhammad had ordered to kill homosexuals, as “their behaviour leads to the end of human race”. “This is neither a democracy, nor an anarchy. This is the end of history. This is abhorrent to God and man’, Tajuddin underscored. According to the Russian independent radio station Echo Moskvy such statements by mufti alarmed even normally very conservative spiritual Muslim leaders. Nafigul Ashirov, head of Spiritual Directorate of Muslims responsible for Asian part of the country said that Muslims are categorically against the conduct of gay parades but no one will use violence. He said that “gay parades should not have their place in the lives of normal people. The patriarch of Orthodox Church said that today goes the campaign to pervert Russian nation, we join this statement and think that it is spiritual aggression”. “But,” he added, “I don’t think we have the right to thrash someone or kill, such things are not acceptable because it will be outside the scope of law. We just express the non acceptance of such actions”. Ashirov said that “we are categorically against the gay parade; but if Moscow authorities allow it then we will have nothing than to feel sorry for that. We will not go against the law, we will act by words and our personal example”. Nikolai Alekseev, one of the organizers of Moscow LGBT Festival and Pride expressed his outrage at the outburst of the Mufti. “The position of Talgat Tajuddin is unacceptable,” he fumed. “We have never heard yet so strong words of hatred towards sexual minorities from influential public figures. “[The Mufti] said that that we have no right and he appealed for violence against gays – and even killings. “What is terrible is that he used the current situation in the world connected with the publication of cartoons, to incite hatred towards those who have absolutely not connection to that. “He actually invited to the acts of vandalism which we see these days in Muslim countries against diplomatic missions of foreign countries.” Alekseev said that “we will do the legal analyses of Mufti’s statements and will take a decision concerning a possible application to the General Prosecutor”. “I was contacted yesterday by many Russian journalists and some of them told me that there is an atmosphere of outrage in their offices at what the religious leaders said. Even those who are not so tolerant towards gays said that it is outrageous to hear such words in a democratic country,” he pointed out. Today, the principal rabbi of Russia joined the fray. Rabbi Berl Lazar told the Russian news agency InterFax that if the Gay Pride parade was allowed to go ahead it “would be a blow for morality”. Propaganda of what he called “sexual perversions” does not have the right to exist, the rabbi said. “As a religious figure, I must first of all say that our religion categorically bans homosexuality. As I know, such sharp condemnation of homosexual relations also exists in other traditional religions in Russia,” he told the news agency. “I would like to assure you, that the parade of homosexuals it is not less offensive to the feelings of believers than any caricatures in newspapers,” he said, linking the Pride parade with the current furore over the cartoons published in Denmark five months ago. “I think that it will be perceived as an insult not only by believers but by the absolute majority of the populations of our city,” he added. Alekseev countered, charging the rabbi of lying. “Gay parades are already part of the Jewish society – and no religion was able to stop gay marches in Tel Aviv,” he pointed out. “In Judaism, there are several schools of thought and some of them not only accept homosexual relations but also allow the blessings of same-sex marriages. This is what we can see now in the UK where same-sex partnerships are blessed in some synagogues.” According to Alekseev, “comparission between the march for human rights and against discrimination with the publication of cartoons is nothing more than an attempt to incite hatred toward sexual minorities. “Rabbi Lazar, being the citizen of three states at the same time, should know what is a public actions of gays and lesbians and what is respect for constitutional rights of citizens in the free democratic state. Both in the United States and in Israel gay parades became part of the state based on rule of law in the same way as freedom of religion and right to express one’s opinion. The most outrageous aspect is that the principal rabbi of Russia can allow himself to call persons of homosexual orientation “sexual perverts”, while both heterosexual and homosexual relations have equal legal status in Russia”. This, Alekseev suggested, is a clear hypocrisy. LINKS
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Posted: 15 February, 2006 at 14:00 (UK time) - updated 19:00