Bihar State Chief Nitish Kumar on Tuesday reacted to the escalating row over his cabinet colleague Chandra Shekhar's recent comments on Hindu scriptures.
Kumar, who heads the Bihar government of his Janata Dal (United) or JD(U) party and Tejashwi Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), said that the state government was not against any religion and respected all religions, including Hinduism.
"Our view is that no matter the religion, there should be no interference," the 73-year-old JD(U) leader said before terming the controversy nothing but "nonsense".
Kumar's statement about the raging controversy in the northern state came days after his party parliamentarian Lallan Singh, Bihar legislator Ashok Chaudhary and Tejashwi raised objections to Chandra Shekhar's remarks.
Chandra Shekhar, a RJD politician, on last Wednesday said that the Ramcharitmanas "spreads hatred in society".
His comments drew sharp reactions from the federally-ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which sought an apology from the politician. However, Kumar remained defiant, not willing to apologize for what he said.
This wasn't the first time an RJD politician has used contentious words for Hindu symbols.
Earlier this month, RJD's Bihar chief Jagada Nand Singh found himself in hot water after claiming that the under-construction Lord Rama Temple in Ayodhya was being built on "land of hatred."