Rajinikanth refuses to apologise for his statement on Periyar EV Ramasamy

He said whatever he stated about Periyar were not made up from his imagination but a reality which featured in several media.

"I did not make up what I said, there are even published stories in media on it, I can show them. I will not apologize," he told the reporters.

Rajnikanth's statement comes after a complaint was filed by Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam (DVK), a splinter group of the Dravidar Kazhagam.

It alleged that Rajinikanth is spreading misinformation about Periyar and wants to malign his reputation.

Some parties, including Dravidar Viduthulai Kazhagam, are already holding protests against Rajinikanth's statement.

The party members have demanded an unconditional apology from the superstar and has also filed a police complaint against Rajnikanth.

"A controversy has emerged that I said something that did not happen. But I did not say anything that did not occur. I only said what I heard and things that appeared in magazines. Sorry, I will not express regret or apologise," Rajinikanth told reporters outside his Poes Garden residence showing few clippings from magazines.

According to the veteran actor, in 1971 Periyar E V Ramasamy had led a rally taking out the idols of Lord Ram and Sita without dress and the deities also featured a garland of sandals.

In his address at the 50th anniversary-cum- readers' connect event of Tamil magazine 'Thuglak' on Jan 14 in Chennai, Rajnikanth had said: "In 1971, at Salem, Periyar took out a rally in which undressed images of Lord Sri Ramachandramoorthy and Sita—with a garland of sandal—featured and no news outlet published it."

After a series of protests, Rajinikanth clarified, "I did not say anything out of imagination or something that was not there. Lakshmanan (then Jan Sangh and now BJP leader) who took part in a dharna (in 1971) has corroborated it."

He said it is difficult to forget such incidents, however the same has to be forgotten.