No one needs to be scared of me, yoga guru Ramdev said. (File photo)
Yoga guru Ramdev today appeared to backtrack on his controversial remark that if not for the law, he would have "beheaded" people for refusing to chant 'Bharat Mata ki Jai', saying he was merely responding to AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi's statement that he won't raise the slogan even if a knife is put to his throat.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, the yoga guru said insulting religions like Islam or Christianity would be as "idiotic" as Mr Owaisi's remark.
"I believe in non-violence, coexistence and oneness. It would be wrong to say that behead me but I won't respect the Quran or the Bible. I take pride in my religion but that does not give me the licence to insult other faiths. That would be as idiotic as Owaisi," he said.
"He says at the drop of a hat that behead me but I won't say 'Bharat mata ki jai'. So I responded in rustic language that I would have done so but I believe in the Constitution. No one needs to be scared of me...'
Woh toh baat ki baat thi'. If someone wants to say 'Bharat mata ki jai' then let him, what's the point in protesting against it," Ramdev said.