Some world leaders’ reactions to Orlando shooting prompt cries of hypocrisy on gay rights

Many world leaders have rushed to express sadness and solidarity over the Orlando, Fla., gay nightclub massacre, including some whose countries have less-than-spotless records on gay rights.

Social media posts by the leaders of Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and other countries where homosexuality or homosexual acts are criminalized have drawn withering reactions.

In Afghanistan, where shooter Omar Mateen’s parents were born, President Ashraf Ghani said he was “praying for all those affected by this tragedy.” Some online commenters noted that Afghanistan is one of 13 countries in the world where homosexuality is punishable by death, according to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Assn., or ILGA, an advocacy group.

In next-door Pakistan, another country where homosexuality carries the death penalty, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said in a statement: “No innocent man, woman or child should ever feel afraid of being shot or killed for being who they are in a progressive and democratic society.

“This is against every principle of pluralism, tolerance and humanity that we have been striving for.”

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Although capital punishment for gay people is rarely implemented in these countries, the laws have created a stigma surrounding homosexuality that forces many to stay in the closet or live in the shadows.

In India, where sex “against the order of nature” is outlawed – including same-sex relations – Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “shocked” at the shooting, in which 50 people died, including the gunman, Omar Mateen. Critics quickly pounced on the statement, calling on Modi to introduce a bill to strike down the anti-gay law.

The Indian law does not ban homosexuality, and has led to few prosecutions since it was reinstated in 2013. But activists say it has commonly been used to harass and blackmail gay people.

“If you’re sincere about your prayers for the Orlando victims, maybe you will tweet a message of support for the millions of similar LGBT people back home,” journalist Dhrubo Jyoti wrote in an open letter to Modi in the Hindustan Times. 

Majority Muslim countries that are allies of the United States also rushed to express sympathy – including Saudi Arabia, where homosexuality is illegal under Islamic sharia law. Punishments for same-sex relations in the kingdom include execution and chemical castration.

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In 2014, Saudi authorities sentenced a gay man who used Twitter to meet another man to three years in prison and 450 lashes.

The Saudi government issued a statement Monday extending “its deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims and to the people of the United States. We stand with the American people at this tragic time.”

But experts noted that condolence statements from Arab states where homosexuality is criminalized – and widely seen as un-Islamic – were careful not to specify the nature of the Orlando club or who was targeted there.

Follow @SBengali on Twitter for more news from South Asia.

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