Union Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mahesh Sharma, claims that his comments about Dr APJ abdul Kalam and women in Indian culture were twisted by the media.
The Minister’s comments about Kalam being a nationalist ‘despite being a Muslim’, in an interview to India Today TV on September 13, had created a furore among people mourning the demise of the former President.
He had further quipped that girls wanting to go on a night-out is not an acceptable practice in Indian society.
The Union Minister, however, clarified his statements by saying that the media has cut his statements into pieces and misrepresented them.
The interviewer had asked, Sharma said, if the government would saffronise every street named after a Muslim person. To that, Sharma claims, he had replied that Dr APJ Abdul Kalam was a nationalist and a Muslim.
About women not being allowed to go out at night, the Minister clarified saying he had five daughters and one of his daughters, who is a doctor, works late in the night and watches late night movie shows.
Whether the minister is backtracking on his comments or simply rectifying a mistake made by the media, will only be proved in the long run.
(With agency inputs)
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