Rights body comes out in support of Khushboo

Chennai, Nov 19 (IANS) Film personalities Khushboo and Suhasini Maniratnam, facing court cases over their remarks on pre-marital sex, Saturday found support from the People's Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL).

The PUCL said in a statement here that actress Khushboo's remarks in response to a magazine's query on pre-marital sex were "not a threat to public order or morality", as some political parties had alleged.

PUCL vice-president Sudha Ramalingam said that protests against Khushboo and against actress Suhasini, who supported her, were "attempts to make tolerant Tamils appear cruel or brutal towards an individual".

"Tamils are being misguided and made to react to the statements of Khushboo and Suhasini, without applying the principles of law or cultural norms, which the so-called hurt tend to hold high," she said.

"From Khushboo to Suhasini, the cultural, moral and religious policing is now being extended to Sania Mirza and it will not take too long to throttle all women's voices and set the clock back to the dark ages," Ramalingam said.

A lawyer herself, the PUCL official said the cases filed against Khushboo and Suhasini were vexatious and "should not be entertained" by courts.

As many as 25 cases have been filed against Khushboo and ten against Suhasini by activists of the Pattali Makkal Katchi and the Dalit Panthers of India.