A Muslim lawmaker
in Prime Minister Helen Clark's New Zealand government
backed away Tuesday from earlier comments he made condoning
the stoning executions of homosexuals and adulterers
as prescribed by strict Islamic law.
Lawmaker Ashraf Choudhary was asked on a current
affairs program Monday night whether he thought the
Quran was wrong to recommend such punishments. "No,
no. Certainly what the Quran says is correct,"
Choudhary said. The Pakistani-born New Zealand citizen then
added: "In those societies, not here in New Zealand."
After Clark said Tuesday she would demand an
explanation from the lawmaker on his comments, made
during a show about Islamic extremism, he issued a
statement saying he abhors such practices. "I have been a
devout Muslim all my life and stand by the teachings of the
Quran," Choudhary said. "But as a matter of personal
belief, I abhor stoning and am strongly opposed to
violence," he said.
The statement said he would not comment further
and he did not immediately return calls.
Clark made it clear earlier that Choudhary's
views were not her party's policy. "For the record,
let me spell out the Labour Party does not support
capital punishment. It does not support flogging. It does
not support stoning. We have very strong views about
that," she said. "I don't care whether it's in any
religious tract; it's not something that's acceptable
to me," Clark added.
Gay lawmaker and conservation minister Chris
Carter, who has worked closely with Choudhary for many
years, defended his colleague. "He is a person who
supported the civil-union bill, he is a person who is very
supportive of minority's in this country, and I think is a
very good New Zealander," he said.
Choudhary voted for the civil-union bill, which
gave legal backing to unions between single-sex
couples, saying that despite the prevailing Muslim
view that homosexuality was immoral, Muslims--as a minority
group in New Zealand--had a duty to support the human
rights of other minority groups. (AP)