'Night out for girls not in our culture', says Union culture minister

New Delhi: Union culture minister Mahesh Sharma has stirred up hornet's nest yet again, this time the Minister has said that girls wanting to have a night out is against Indian culture.

"Girls wanting a night out may be all right elsewhere but it is not part of Indian culture," the union minister was quoted telling a private television channel. He further explained that he had nothing against western culture but said that Indian should not ape the west blindly.

At a time when the country is struggling to fight moral policing, the comments made by Sharma have stoked a fresh row. Facing backlash, the minister took to twitter to defend his statement, claiming that it had been distorted.

"My statements are being distorted and presented. My statements are being taken otherwise. Our culture is our identity and we should stride to preserve the same", tweeted Mahesh Sharma.

This is not the first time that Sharma has courted controversy, earlier too he had made statements that were branded "regressive" by not just his opponents but by the general public too.

The 54-year-old first time MP from Noida has triggered massive outrage due to his remark on the later former president APJ Abdul Kalam. He had said that Kalam "was a nationalist despite being a Muslim" .

"Aurangzeb Road ka naam bhi badal kar ek aise mahapurush ke naam par kiya hai jo Musalman hote hue bhi inta bada rashtravadi aur manavtavadi insaan tha (We have renamed it after someone who was a humanitarian and a nationalist despite being a Muslim)," he had said in another interview to a TV channel. The Congress had attacked the minister, calling his views "vicious".