Dutch MPs condemn Indian minister's anti-gay remarks

RNW, 10 July 2011, by Johan van Slooten  

(Photo by Vinayak Das [flickr.com])

The Dutch cabinet should voice its concern about anti-gay remarks made by India's Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, says Dutch democrat party D66. “Our foreign and emancipation ministers should strongly oppose these remarks,” says D66 leader Alexander Pechtold. “They should also work within the EU towards a joint condemnation.”

Earlier this week, Mr Azad branded homosexuality “a disease” and “absolutely unnatural”. Gay organisations in India and abroad reacted furiously, calling for Mr Azad to resign.

He later apologised and said he had been misquoted.

Abhorrent

D66 MP Pia Dijkstra describes Mr Azad's remarks as abhorrent: “We have to consistently oppose such discriminatory comments,” she says. “They will only hamper the fight against HIV and AIDS in a country where 2.5 million people are HIV-positive."

In India, 7.3 percent of gay men are HIV-positive, compared to only 0.3 percent of heterosexual men.

Visit

Only last week, Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal briefly visited New Delhi for talks with his Indian counterpart S.M. Krishna. They discussed security and economic issues, and India's poor human rights record on child labour. Mr Rosenthal invited Mr Krishna to visit the Netherlands.

Mr Azad made his anti-gay remarks after Mr Rosenthal's visit.

Dutch Deputy Agriculture Minister Henk Bleker is set to visit India shortly. Mr Pechtold has called on him to raise the anti-gay issue during his trip.

Mr Azad has been criticised for his remarks

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Gay rights activists outraged over Ghulam Nabi Azad's statement

U.N. passes 'historic' gay rights resolution


About the Challenges of Being a Gay Man – Oct 23, 2010 (Saint Germain channeled by Alexandra Mahlimay and Dan Bennack) - “You see, your Soul and Creator are not concerned with any perspective you have that contradicts the reality of your Divinity – whether this be your gender, your sexual preference, your nationality – or your race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, or anything else.”