New Delhi: The head of the Jyotish peeth Hindu monastery in Uttarakhand Swami Avimukteshwaranand has said that Rahul Gandhi did not say anything against Hinduism in his remarks as part of the motion of thanks on the president’s address in the Lok Sabha.In a video circulating on social media, Avimukteshwaranand is seen answering a question on what he thought of Gandhi’s remarks on July 1 since the Leader of Opposition is being accused of calling Hindus “violent”.“When someone tells me a crow has taken away my ear, I first check if my ear is still with me. I go after the crow only if it isn’t,” Avimukteshwaranand said in Hindi.He added that he’d watched a video of Gandhi’s remarks in parliament and has drawn the conclusion that “he never [said] anything” to imply that Hindus were violent or spread hate.“He [Gandhi] instead says violence has no place in Hinduism. When he clearly says it has no place in Hinduism, then to accuse him of speaking against Hinduism and to spread his words taken out of context is a crime and is misinformation,” Avimukteshwaranand added.Further, he said: “Those who do this should be punished, even if they are journalists or a news channel. This is wrong. It’s not right to to oppose someone or deem them guilty for something they never said.”The monk also underlined that Gandhi was specifically referring to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs when he was speaking of “those who call themselves Hindu” and had accused “them of spreading violence and hate”.On July 1, Gandhi said the deity Shiva had preached non-violence but that “those who call themselves Hindu” spread violence, hate and lies “twenty four hours [a day]”, pointing to BJP MPs sitting in front of him and adding that “you are not Hindus at all”.He continued to say that the Hindu faith endorsed truth and non-violence, following which Prime Minister Narendra Modi intervened saying it was “a very serious matter to say that all of Hindu society was violent”.Gandhi then said that Modi, the BJP or the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) did not represent all Hindus.Avimukteshwaranand had also addressed the topic on July 2, saying Gandhi “had made it clear” he was not referring to all Hindus in his remarks.He was previously in the limelight when he spoke about the consecration ceremony for the Ayodhya Ram temple’s idol in January. In an interview with The Wire, Avimukteshwaranand argued it was wrong to consecrate Ram’s statue before the temple had been fully constructed. He further stated that he was concerned that the politicisation of the Ram temple was dividing India rather than uniting it, and that it was also creating divisions within the Hindu population.