Islamic TV station faces ban for saying gay people are ‘worse than animals’
UK communications watchdog Ofcom has said that Islamic television channel Peace TV, which said gay people were “insane” and “worse than animals,” breached regulations which could lead to the revocation of its broadcasting license.
Ofcom ruled that four programmes broadcast by the channel between them breached rules on hate speech, offence, abusive treatment and incitement to crime.
The regulator received a complaint about one of the programmes, called “The Valley of the Homosexuals,” which said the broadcast was “absolute[ly] vile,” “full of degrading slurs towards gay people” and “extremely offensive.”
The episode of the series Strengthening Your Family featured a presenter speaking directly to camera about homosexuality and Islam.
He said: “Homosexuality throughout the world has gone rampant, but it didn’t just begin. It’s not new, but society made an attempt to soften the blow of homosexuality by giving it softer names, like gay.”
“That’s insane but that’s the way this world is, and Shaitaan (Satan) is having a good time – inviting people to join him in the hell fire,” he continued.
The presenter said gay people were worse than “nasty and corrupted and contaminated” pigs
Another statement he made was: “They make laws now, the newest and most brash and insane laws, laws that protect homosexuals and even make it legal for them to marry each other. Men marrying men.
“Being on television in front of our children, kissing each other in the mouth, walking down the street, hugging and kissing – this society has gone insane. ”
“Even an animal that is defiled by Islam, the pig – as nasty and corrupted and contaminated as a pig is – you never see two male pigs that are trying to have sex together,” he continued.
“That’s insanity… worse than animals.”
The report states: “Ofcom considered the breaches in this case to be serious. We are putting the Licensee on notice that we will consider these breaches for the imposition of a statutory sanction.”
Lord Production, which holds the broadcasting license for the channel, denies breaching Ofcom regulations and said the presenter was taking “a robust stand against homosexuality, but very much from a religious standpoint.”
Other programmes on the channel flagged by Ofcom included one that called for magicians to be killed, and another that said child marriage was not a problem.
The channel is based in Dubai and is broadcast in both Urdu and English. It can be accessed in 125 countries, and in the UK it is currently available on Sky.
The channel describes its purpose as to promote “truth, justice, morality, harmony, wisdom and PEACE for the whole of humankind.”
Dr Zakir Naik, the founder of Peace TV, previously said: “Truth is truth, majority doesn’t win, what is wrong is wrong. In Islam and in most of the major religions in the world homosexuality is a sin, it’s a crime.
“It will not take you to heaven it will take you to hell.”