Night out for girls not in our culture: Mahesh Sharma

By NewsGram Staff Writer

New Delhi: After his remark that ex-President APJ Abdul Kalam "was a nationalist despite being a Muslim" sparked a row, Union culture minister Mahesh Sharma stoked another controversy on Friday by saying girls enjoying a night out is not acceptable in India. "It may be else where but it is not part of Indian culture," the minister told a television channel.

The 54-year-old first time MP from Noida had been in the news for a string of comments which were decried by opponents as "regressive" and an "assault on India's culture." Sharma had said a few days ago, "Bible and Quran are not central to the soul of India."

My (Indian) values and books should be read before you read novels- Mahesh Sharma

However , when contacted, Sharma told TOI that his recent interview should be taken in a holistic manner and insisted he had not spoken against any religion or person. He said he was being misrepresented in the name of 'saffronization' and also denied that he had pressed for making epics like Ramayana, Mahabharata and Gita compulsory in schools. "I am not authorized to make such decisions ," he said. "As far as imposing restrictions on peoples' eating habits is concerned , nobody has the right to do that," he told TOI.