In poor taste, unbecoming of artistes: Music Academy slam vocalist duo for letter on TM Krishna row

Responding to their letter, which the duo also posted on social media, Murali said he was shocked by the 'slanderous assertions and insinuations verging on defamation and its vicious tone' against a respected senior fellow musician and felt it was in "poor taste and unbecoming of artistes".

Highest honour

Magsaysay Award winner and vocalist TM Krishna has been selected for The Music Academy's Sangita Kalanidhi award for the year 2024 along with Mohiniyattam exponent Neena Prasad, who was awarded the 'Nritya Kalanidhi'.

On receiving the award, TM Krishna had posted a thank you note for this "highest honour" and said music kept him "honest".

Meanwhile, after Ranjani and Gayatri's letter denouncing this act by the Music Academy, Murali said the award, the ‘highest accolade in Carnatic music’ was given to Krishna for “his excellence in music over a long career” and no 'extraneous factors' influenced the choice.

"I note that you have shared your letter addressed to me and the Academy on social media, which, apart from being discourteous, raises doubts about the intentions behind and the purpose of your letter," Murali said in a statement.

What Ranjani and Gayatri said about TM

Ranjani and Gayatri took to 'X' on March 20 to declare that TM Krishna has caused 'immense damage' to the Carnatic music world and has "wilfully and happily stomped over the sentiments of this community and insulted most respected icons like Tyagaraja and MS Subbulakshmi”.

In their post, the famous vocalists wrote, "It's dangerous to overlook Mr TM Krishna’s glorification of a figure like EVR [‘Periyar’ EV Ramasamy] who, according to them, openly proposed a genocide of ‘brahmins’, repeatedly called/abused every woman of this community with vile profanity and relentlessly worked to normalise filthy language in social discourse'.

His actions have tried to spread a sense of shame in being a Carnatic musician…they wrote, and he has vilified the Carnatic music fraternity, they added.

For this reason they said that they have decided to withdraw from participating in the Music Academy’s conference 2024 and from presenting their concert on December 25.

“We made this decision as the conference would be presided over by TM Krishna,” they said.

Carnatic musicians protest

Similarly, vocalist and Harikatha exponent Vishakha Hari, in her post on Instagram wrote, "This year's Sangeetha Kalanidhi designate awardee has engaged in a lot of slandering previously, hurting the sentiments of many tremendously and willfully (sic)." And he has not been a regular performer in the institution for years, she added. "I believe that values and virtues are as important as the music," she pointed out.

Chitraveena Ravikiran, Triuchur Brothers too have boycott the Music Academy Conference as TM Krishna will preside over it. According to music experts, the outrage seems to stem from resentment harboured against TM Krishna for a long time for openly challenging Carnatic music traditions that are rooted in caste and class privilege. Neither did like his approach or renditions as a Carnatic music vocalist. All of which, rankled the 'elite' Carnatic music world, said experts.

Interestingly, the Music Academy too said they were conferring the award on Krishna for his efforts to use “music as a tool for social reform”.

Chinmayi: Why Carnatic music world went stone cold silent on child sex offenders

Meanwhile, TM Krishna found a fierce champion in national award-winner and singer Chinmayi Sripada. She congratulated him on getting the award and hit out at Ranjani and Gayatri for not coming forward when scores of Carnatic Music students spoke about sexual abuse and harassment by multiple Carnatic Musicians in 2018.

She asked the singers why the musicians went “stone cold silent about the child sex offenders in their own fold, who were soiling the purity of the very craft they deify".

Despite knowing who the "dirty mamas" are, she wrote, none of them have been outed, the "so called great Vidwans have not been punished by the Carnatic music community or the rasikas".

"These molesters have been the reason so many kids have refused to touch a violin, or refused to sing, or cultivated a hatred for Carnatic Music because they associated it with the trauma of child sexual abuse."

And, she rounded it off saying the film industry is a safer place than the Carnatic music industry.

Ranjani and Gayatri respond

However, Ranjani and Gayatri responded by reposting a 2018 tweet when they had stood by Music Academy's decision to uninvite the alleged musicians who have been named in the MeToo movement. Calling it a "step in the right direction", they had said that accounts of abuse is "highly disturbing" and that sexual harassment is despicable and they hoped that their field will become a clean and safe place.

Ranjani and Gayatri have also reposted a tweet calling Murali's behaviour as "arrogant".

Meanwhile, social media users are diving into the controversy, taking sides. While one user dismissed it as a battle of an "elite class".