In a sign of changing times, Vishwa Hindu Parishad president Vishnu Hari Dalmia has expressed pity and sympathy for his bachelor colleagues in the Sangh Parivar for having missed out on the "sex experience."
Participating in Karan Thapar's Line of Fire programme on Sab TV, Dalmia said there was "nothing wrong or harmful" in celebrating Valentine's Day or New Year's Day. "If people want to enter the new year with good feelings and want to express their feelings on Valentine's Day what wrong with it?" he asked.
"I pity some of the people in VHP who never got married, who have never experienced sex, who are inexperienced. They belong to our organisation, so our sympathies are with them," Dalmia said.
Asserting that sex was for enjoyment, Dalmia said: "I pity these becharas for they are not aware of a worldly experience. What else can we do?"
Pracharaks or full-time activists of the Sangh Parivar, including RSS chief K S Sudarshan and VHP's international president Ashok Singhal, are bachelors.
Dalmia admitted having sent his children to English-medium schools, but objected to girls dressing in mini skirts and jeans. "It does create some kind of allurement and rape cases will increase."
He said the VHP cannot impose its ideas on others. "We can only offer ideas and try to convince people [of their values]", Dalmia said.