Tuesday, March 7 2006 18:11 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Meerut: Terming as "unconstitutional" the bounty announced by an Uttar Pradesh minister on the Danish cartoonist, former Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson Najma Heptullah has said freedom of speech does not mean crossing limits and demanded action be initiated against him.

"Yakoob Qureshi at the time of becoming a minister had taken oath in the name of the Constitution that does not permit anyone to issue a 'farman' for murder," she told sources here last evening.

Heptullah said the UP Haj Minister's announcement was not a fatwa but a statement as "a minister cannot declare fatwa. Only a religious head can do so."

Qureshi should clarify "under what section of the Indian Constitution has he made the declaration. Freedom of speech does not mean a minister can utter any words", she said and demanded that the state government initiate action against him.

She however added that the Danish cartoonist's caricatures of Prophet Mohammad and the nude paintings of Hindu gods and goddesses also amounted to breaking the barriers of freedom. "Freedom of expression does not mean hurting the feelings and sentiments of others," she said.