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

KOLLAM/THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Women who go to Sabarimala must be "ripped in two", and, "one part should be sent to Thiruvananthapuram, the other to Delhi," Malayalam actor and BJP supporter Thulasidharan Nair, known as Kollam Thulasi, said on Friday addressing BJP's 'long march' in Kollam. The BJP march was organised to protest the Supreme Court's verdict allowing entry of women of all ages into the temple.

BJP state chief PS Sreedharan Pillai, who led the march, swept aside the remark. "Kollam Thulasi is a cine actor, who spoke as a representative of a local Ayyappa temple… We cannot dictate how they (speakers) should talk. BJP has no responsibility to stand by their views," he said, adding that, "When someone speaks in a 'charged' atmosphere words are used which test the limits of propriety. We have to see it in the spirit of the agitation."

Though Pillai washed his hands of the matter, Thulasi apologised for the "slip of tongue" later and said he "did not want to hurt anyone". The protest march began from Pandalam and will conclude at the Secretariat in the state capital on October 16. A 'Namajapa Yajnam' to protest the SC verdict was also held under the aegis of Pandalam Palace.