January 19, 2005

Indian PM tongue-tied over tongue-twiddlingIssues

Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh was stumped by a question about gay marriage yesterday (via India Uncut):

What is your view on same-sex marriages? Manmohan Singh seemed at a loss for words. “I am sorry, I don’t understand your question,” he told the [CBC] journalist… she elaborated. A Sikh religious head has issued an edict against Ottawa’s decision to allow marriages between people from the same sex. Singh again took a minute or so, perhaps to hide his embarrassment…  “I don’t think such a thing will have wide acceptance in our country,” the Prime Minister replied.

No same-sex, please, we’re Sikhs. Canada’s Sikh MPs are divided on gay marriage more or less along party lines. But the religious guardians in Amritsar were clear: they would snub PM Paul Martin over his pro-gay marriage bill if he tried to pay his respects at Harimandir Sahib (via Amardeep Singh).

Martin toured tsunami-stricken areas instead and remanded the former premier of British Columbia, Ujjal Dosanjh, to Amritsar to apologize for the change in plan. Their excuse for the preemptive counter-snub?

“… if Guru Nanak had been consulted — Guru Nanak who was the founder of the Sikh religion — Guru Nanak would have said that the Prime Minister should go to Phuket and to Sri Lanka.”

Oh, that is smooth. Claim better divine guidance than the clerics — Hitch has nothing on Dosanjh.

manish on January 19, 2005 03:05 AM in Issues, News, Religion · T·r·a·c·k·b·a·c·k address · Direct link · Email post