Union Culture Minister clarifies on 'no night out for girls' remark, says 'I don't distinguish between men & women'

New Delhi: After Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma told CNN-IBN in an exclusive interview that night out by girls is against Indian culture, the BJP leader has now clarified, saying “the problem is when any statement is looked at partially”.

Speaking to CNN-IBN, the minister had earlier said that night out by girls is against Indian culture. “A girl wanting a night out might be all right elsewhere but not in India,” he had said.

Making a u-turn, the minister has now said, “I do respect Indian culture and tradition but this does not mean that I distinguish between men and women.” Citing the example of her daughter, he further said, “My daughter is a doctor. She goes for movies at night.”

“I never said girls should not go out at night. I just said that Indian and European cultures are different but that does not mean I said that girls should not go out,” said Sharma.

The minister had earlier said that as part of the Indian culture and traditions, brothers and sisters of the same age are supposed to sleep in separate rooms. "We have enjoyed the culture, it was respected," he said. Asserting that the country does not want "westernisation in the name of modernisation", the minister said that though he did not have anything against the west, but he was not willing to follow the same blindly.

"I am willing to take all good things of west, I am not criticising the west. But I am not willing to follow the west blindly," said the minister. "We have to see the infrastructure and social structure of our great country. I am willing to take all good points from west," he further said. The minister also claimed that the European world is looking towards us, for our values and traditions and our culture, and we end up "blindly following them".

The Union Minister also backed the beef ban, saying there was nothing wrong in it as "even Quran does not allow cow slaughter". He also justified the meat ban in some states for the Jain festival of Paryushan. According to the minister, there was nothing wrong in respecting the sentiments of the religious group for a couple of days.