Malayalam news channel BIG TV News Malayalam has deleted an episode of its political debate show Big Dialogue and issued an unconditional apology after backlash from the conservative Islamist community over its anchor Aparna Kurup’s criticism of Islamic scholar Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliar’s remarks on women.
The episode had discussed Kanthapuram’s recent remarks that women should remain confined to their homes and should not share public platforms with men. His comments had triggered a wider debate in Kerala over restrictions on women’s participation in public life.
During the Big Dialogue discussion, Kurup strongly criticised the position and described such restrictions as “sixth-century primitive laws” affecting women.
The remarks subsequently triggered backlash from conservative Islamist groups and Islamic organisations, with the anchor facing criticism and alleged threats over her comments. Reports also emerged of protests and attacks targeting some BIG TV offices in the Malabar region.
Instead of standing by the discussion, BIG TV has now removed the episode from its social media platforms and issued an apology, bowing to pressure.
In a statement dated 1 September 2026, Kurup said some remarks made during the programme “should have been avoided” and expressed regret if they had hurt anyone’s religious sentiments or faith.
“Some of the remarks made during the ‘Big Dialogue’ debate against gender discrimination toward women should have been avoided. If it has unconditionally hurt anyone’s religious sentiments or faith, we express our unconditional regret.Even while upholding the demand that women, regardless of religion, deserve equal status and social justice, in a situation where the video is being circulated in society in a misleading manner, we inform that the video has been removed from all social media platforms of BIG TV.”— Aparna Kurup (01-09-2026)
The statement attempts to distinguish between the channel’s stated support for gender equality and its decision to remove the programme. Kurup said BIG TV continued to uphold the demand that women, regardless of religion, deserve equal status and social justice, while claiming that the video was being circulated in a “misleading manner”.
Apology from a TV journalist in Keralam.
Her crime…She called out the dangerous misogynistic actions prevalent in Keralam in the name of religion.
All hell broke loose. How can she say that???
Now, people in Keralam knows the true meaning of “suppression of dissent”. pic.twitter.com/QH7yqG1EUh
— Colonel S Dinny (Retd) (@sdinny14) September 1, 2026
Debate Was Over Kanthapuram’s Remarks On Women
The Big Dialogue episode came in the backdrop of Kanthapuram’s controversial remarks on women’s presence in public spaces.
Kanthapuram had said women should remain within their homes and questioned their participation alongside men in public celebrations and programmes. His comments have since triggered political and public criticism in Kerala.
Kurup’s comments during the debate were directed at this position. Rather than endorsing restrictions on women, she challenged what she characterised as regressive religious prescriptions.
The subsequent backlash, however, resulted in BIG TV withdrawing the very discussion in which those views were challenged.
The episode also exposes a glaring double standard in how issues surrounding religion are handled. When Hindu leaders make any remarks, they are routinely condemned as backward, misogynistic or majoritarian, with little expectation of an apology or retreat from those challenging them. But when an Islamist cleric makes highly regressive remarks about women, the response is strikingly different: instead of the cleric being pressured to retract his views, the news channel that challenged those views ends up apologising and deleting the discussion. The message is troubling—criticising Hindu religious figures is treated as a defence of progress and equality, while criticising Islamist positions can invite enough pressure to make even a news channel back down.
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