CNN Central News & Network-ITDC India Epress / ITDC News Bhopal: Carnatic musicians, who recently opposed the move of The Music Academy, Madras conferring musician Thodu Madabusi, better known as TM Krishna, with the Sangita Kalanidhi, have doubled down on their reasons for the same.
On March 18, TM Krishna was announced to be the 2024 recipent of the coveted Sangita Kalanidhi. Following this, several musicians in the fraternity decided to withdraw from the Music Academy’s upcoming conference for 2024, or return their awards, from the Academy’s annual music season that takes place in December. So far, vocalist duo Ranjani-Gayatri, Harikatha exponent Dushyanth Sridhar, Vishakha Hari, Trichur Brothers Srikrishna Mohan and Ramkumar Mohan, and the 2017 Sangita Kalanidhi recipient Chitravina Ravikiran, have spoken up against the decision.
Ranjani-Gayatri spearheaded the protest with a joint letter addressed to The Music Academy, Madras. Taking to X to announce their decision, the duo shared, “He (TM Krishna) has vilified the Carnatic music fraternity that has collectively contributed millions of hours of artistry, hard work and literature (sic).”
To the sister-duo’s decision, the Music Academy’s president, N Murali, responded in a letter in which he stated he was “shocked by both its vituperative content, which is replete with unwarranted and slanderous assertions and insinuations verging on defamation, and its vicious tone against a respected senior fellow musician.”
Elaborating on their concerns against the academy’s decision to award the title to Krishna, the duo shares, “It’d be against our values and beliefs to present our music in a conference presided over by someone who is a powerful torchbearer of opposing views and glorifier of cultural enemies. We cannot endorse honouring a person who glorifies EVR (social activist Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy, or Periyar). EVR called for killing Brahmins consistently for decades, used vile profanities for Brahmin women and normalised filthy language in public discourse. Strange that this EVR is packaged and sold as an anti-caste, women-empowering figure with a sole political intent of attacking Brahmins. We can’t be a party to that.”
When asked about how they would respond to the criticism they’re receiving regarding their decision, they say, “Our withdrawal is simply our choice. Our opinions on TM Krishna are based on his actions over a long period and our stand on Periyar is based on truth and not on the politically packaged Periyar. For those who have a different view, our response is to ‘agree to disagree’. I am all willing to hear you out and open to change based on facts and rationale. There is another set of agenda-driven opposers. They are angry. They think, ‘You small powerless artist, dare you have an opinion and express it?’ We should respond differently to them.”