The All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat, the umbrella body of India Muslim organisations, on December 13, welcomed the verdict of the apex court criminalising homosexuality.
AIMMM President, Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan said the SC decision reflects law and our deep human and oriental values which are so dear to the Indian society of all shades and colours.
Dr Khan cautioned political leaders not to get swayed by a screaming miniscule minority which wants to import market-oriented western values and impose it on our traditional and cultured society.
Dr Khan said the vast majority of Indian people and religious and social leaders oppose the decriminalisation of homosexuality. He said the government and legislators should respect the views and wishes of the overwhelming majority of the Indian people. He said a public referendum should be held if these leaders have any doubt about the views of the general public on this issue which has great relevance to our values and survival of humanity.
In a statement on December 11, Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Omari, Ameer Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, also welcomed the judgement of Supreme Court whereby homosexuality has been declared illegal and a punishable offence. The apex court on December 11 quashed the Delhi High Court verdict of 2009 which had decriminalised homosexuality.
Ameer-e Jamaat further said that unlimited individual freedom and the concept of so-called human rights is the result of western culture and is stranger to the Indian society. He said that homosexuality has not been accepted by the majority of people and religious organisations in the world. Homosexuality leads to moral chaos in the society and wherever it has been granted legal sanction the family system has disintegrated.
Maulana Omari has appealed to political leaders and Members of Parliament to ensure that no such law is presented in the parliament so that the country could be saved from moral devastation.