Vedanti denies issuing fatwa against Karunanidhi

AYODHYA: Senior VHP leader Ram Vilas Vedanti on Sunday denied having issued any 'fatwa' against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi for the latter's comments on Lord Ram and claimed the media had 'twisted' his remarks.

"I never said that anyone beheading Karunanidhi will be weighed in gold by the saints of Ayodhya...I had simply quoted the religious books and Bhagwat on the punishment prescribed for blasphemy," the former BJP MP told here.

"The religious books and Gita say that a person indulging in blasphemy should be sentenced to death and his tongue should be cut off and I still stand by it," he said.

"The media twisted my remarks...I have been a member of the Lok Sabha and swear by the Indian Constitution...I can never say anything which is against the Constitution," Vedanti said.

He referred to the fatwa issued by former Uttar Pradesh minister Haji Yaqoob Qureshi against the Danish cartoonist who had caricatured Prophet Muhammad and said no hue and cry was made then.

"Why is now such hue and cry when there is a reaction in the Hindu society and the saints?" Vedanti questioned.

Terming Karunanidhi as a descendant of the demon king Ravana, Vedanti said "no one had the right to question the existence of Ram".

He also challenged Karunanidhi to a debate on his claims about Lord Ram.

Vedanti had reportedly said on Friday that anyone beheading Karunanidhi would be weighed in gold by the saints of Ayodhya.