West Bengal minister Firhad Hakim claimed that his remarks at a religious event were "misinterpreted" and he had no intention to hurt anyone, amid protests by the opposition BJP.
Hakim, the state's urban development minister and also Kolkata's mayor, told the assembly on Thursday that he is a Muslim but regularly organises Durga Puja and Kali Puja.
BJP MLAs were staging walkouts whenever Hakim was rising to speak in the House over the remarks he made at the All India Quran Competition last month.
"This is very unfortunate to see that whenever I am rising to answer a question that person or the group is staging a walkout. If any of my remarks are being misinterpreted then what can I do? Those who are here, including (BJP) chief whip Dr Shankar Ghosh, can they tell me whether they consider me a secular person or not? Everyone knows that I am secular. This is not right to politicise one of my remarks which was made at a programme outside this House," Hakim said.
"I have never disrespected anyone belonging to another religion and will never do so till the last day of my life. I respect people of other religions. I belong to Islam but have been regularly organising Durga Puja and Kali Puja. My remarks are being unnecessarily politicised. I had no intention to hurt anyone. I was born a secular and will continue to be so," he added.
Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said he was fine with the way Hakim explained his comments.
"At that function, you were invited as the mayor and as a minister. I am not uttering what you said there. The first part of your speech is okay, but in the second part, you have invited people from other religions to join the one in which you have faith. I do not want you to seek forgiveness, but we only want you to say sorry to those whose sentiments were hurt," Adhikari said.
Hakim said he went there because he was invited as a representative of a particular religion.
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