At BJP Sabarimala meet, Kerala actor Kollam Thulasi says rip defiant women into 2

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Malayalam cine actor and BJP fellow traveller Thulasidharan Nair, known as Kollam Thulasi, on Friday said women who go to Sabarimala must be ripped in two.

'One part should be sent to Thiruvananthapuram and the other to New Delhi," Thulasi said asking 'mothers' to volunteer for the task while addressing the BJP's 'long march' organized in protest against the Supreme Court's verdict allowing entry of women of all ages into the temple, in Kollam on Friday. He also came down heavily on the judges who delivered the Sabarimala verdict.

Later in the day, however, he apologized for the 'slip of tongue' and said he had never intended to hurt anyone.

The march, led by BJP state president P S Sreedharan Pillai, which began from Pandalam, will conclude in front of Secretariat on October 16. Asked about Thulasi's remarks, Pillai said,"Kollam Thulasi is a cine actor. He was allowed to speak as a representative of a local Ayyappa temple. Several people representing several communities had addressed the march. We cannot dictate to such leaders how they should speak. The BJP has no responsibility to stand by their views."

Pillai claimed that the march was a massive agitation carried out by believers belonging to various political parties and various communities. "When someone speaks in a 'charged' atmosphere some words are used, which test the limits of propriety. We have to see it in the spirit of the agitation," he said. Pillai said the Centre has made its stand clear as attorney general K K Venugopal also has spoken out extending his support to the Justice Indu Malhotra's dissenting judgment. Venugopal had said the state government and the SC should heed to the majority of women devotees who wanted the customs to be retained intact.

A 'Namajapayajnam' in protest against the verdict was held under the aegis of Pandalam Palace. Palace representative Sasikumar Varma said it was unfortunate on the part of the SC to order changes in a petition submitted those who are ignorant about Sabarimala and age-old traditions.