Minister denies charges of defaming Gods

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 16 (UNI) Kerala Electricity Minister A K Balan today said the allegation against him by the Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Assembly G Karthikeyan that he had hurt the sentiments of believers by making controversial remarks on Hindu deities was ''baseless''.

Talking to mediapersons here, he clarified that he had not made any such controversial remarks intentionally against Hindu Gods as alleged by Mr Karthikeyan and what he meant to say on the floor was that there was nothing wrong about the government providing a hand book to teachers as part of sex education in schools.

Justifying his remarks, he said what he was trying to say was that the pictures in the book would never mislead students. If people were barred from seeing pictures in books with sexual overtones, how could they see temple arts and sculptures, which were nude.

Stating that he had not made any controversial remarks on Hindu Gods and also not intended to hurt the feelings of devotees, Mr Balan said, ''if my words have hurt anybody, I would withdraw my remarks.'' However, he stood firm on his remarks and was not ready for an apology as demanded by the Opposition.

The Electricity Minister alleged that the Opposition was trying to tarnish him and his party and added that the Opposition was trying to use it as a political weapon against him.

Earlier, the Congress-led Opposition staged a walkout in the Kerala Assembly protesting against the remark, demanding Minister's apology.

UNI