Thiruvananthapuram
oi-Prakash KL
Big TV’s Senior Coordinating Editor Aparna Kurup has apologised for critical remarks she made about Kerala’s Grand Mufti and Sunni cleric Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad following his recent comments on Muslim women.
In a social media post, Kurup said some of the references made during a Big Dialogue discussion on gender discrimination against women should have been omitted. She expressed “unconditional regret” if her remarks had offended anyone’s religious sentiments or beliefs.
Big TV editor Aparna Kurup apologized to Kerala Grand Mufti Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad for remarks questioning his comments on purdah and restricting Muslim women, following criticism and video removal, while actress Kasturi Shankar defended Kurup’s statements.
She also said the video had been removed from all of Big TV’s social media platforms, stating that it was being taken down amid concerns that it could be misunderstood while reiterating the channel’s demand for equal status and social justice for women irrespective of religion.
The apology came after a section of social media users criticised her remarks about the Muslim cleric’s comments.
Speaking at the Hubbul Rasool conference in Kochi, the cleric, also known as Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliyar, said the purdah system was meant to protect women’s dignity and warned that bringing women into the public sphere would lead to “great destruction.”
He advised the Muslim women to have three children to get “sure-shot ticket to heaven”, according to OpIndia.
“Women should remain confined within their homes. They should not enter the public sphere. The Holy Quran says so,” he said.
The cleric said the restrictions were intended to honour and protect women rather than degrade them. “It is precisely recognising that bringing women onto public platforms in this manner causes great destruction that Islam mandated purdah for women,” he said.
To explain his position, Kanthapuram compared women to gold jewellery kept safely inside a box, contrasting it with stone grinders left on the roadside for passersby to step over. He argued that leaving gold exposed on the street would allow anyone to touch it and diminish its value.
“If the necklace has to retain its beauty, it has to be kept safely inside a box,” he said. “If women are brought out into the public sphere like this, it will lead to great destruction. It is because of this that Islam prescribed the purdah system for women.”
However, Tamil actress Kasturi Shankar has shared her displeasure after Kurup was made to issue an apology.
In a post on X, she said, “Everything Aparna Kurup said here is factual. She spoke up against the entrenched misogyny and patriarchy among Kerala’s Islamic institutions . She and her channel BigTV were forced to apologise.
I expected the women of Keralam to rally behind Ms Kurup. I expected progressive muslims to support her… Wait, never mind.”
