On Tuesday (19th November), the Madras High Court restrained the Music Academy from presenting the Sangita Kalanidhi MS Subulakshmi award to Leftist activist TM Krishna.
In an interim order, Justice G Jayachandran stated that the Madras Music Academy can present the ‘Sangita Kalanidhi’ award to TM Krishna, but the name of legendary artist MS Subulakshmi shall not be added to it.
Srinivasan, the grandson of MS Subbulakshmi, and her legal heir, had moved the High Court challenging the Music Academy’s decision to award controversial artist TM Krishna in his grandmother’s name. Music Academy’s plea against Srinivasan’s petition has been dismissed by the court.
Notably, MS Subbulakshmi, the legendary Carnatic singer, said in her will in 1997 that no memorials, foundations, or trusts be established in her name. The court determined that Srinivasan, as the will’s beneficiary, had the locus standi to contest the presentation of the award.
“The best way to honour a departed soul is to honour and respect her wish and not to disrespect her. If any person is really having reverence and regard to MS Subbulakshmi, after knowing her desire and mandate, should not continue to give awards in her name,” Justice G Jayachandran’s order noted.
Musicians pulled out of Madras Music Academy’s annual conference 2024 after the Academy conferred the Award to TM Krishna
The Sangita Kalanidhi MS Subulakshmi award has been started to honour the Madras Music Academy each year. A number of singers and artists have objected to the Academy choosing controversial artist TM Krishna for this year’s award.
Earlier this year, several musicians, including the Trichur brothers and Dushyanth Sridhar, have pulled out of Madras Music Academy’s annual December conference to protest the Sangita Kalanidhi award to Krishna, who they allege has “glorified Periyar” and vilified the Carnatic music community.
The artists are miffed with the Chennai-based academy’s decision to bestow the honour, considered the Oscar equivalent in Carnatic music, on the 48-year-old vocalist. Krishna was picked to preside over the 98th annual conference and concerts of the Madras Music Academy later this year in December.
Renowned Indian classical duo Ranjani and Gayatri said their participation in this year’s conference under TM Krishna’s presidency would constitute a “moral violation.” They accused TM Krishna of insulting the most respected icons like Tyagaraja and MS Subbulakshmi. The musicians further alleged that Krishna’s actions have “tried to spread a sense of shame in being a carnatic musician” and has been exhibited through his “consistent denigration of spirituality in music.”
Subsequently, the sibling duo of Srikrishna Mohan and Ramkumar Mohan, otherwise known as the Trichur Brothers said participating in the year-end festival conference hosted by the Academy will make them “outright hypocrites in our own eyes.”
Further, three-time Grammy Award winner Indian music composer Ricky Kej condemned N Murali, the chief of the Madras Music Academy for writing an attacking letter against Carnatic musician sisters Ranjani and Gayatri.
TM Krishna and his controversial antecedents
TM Krishna, full name Thodur Madabusi Krishna, is an Indian Carnatic vocalist, author, and self-styled liberal social activist. Born on 22nd January 1976, in Chennai, India, Krishna has gained widespread recognition for his excellence in Carnatic music, a classical music tradition of India. He is the grandnephew of former Indian finance minister TT Krishnamachari, who was among the founders of the Madras Music Academy.
Apart from his musical pursuits, TM Krishna is also known for his self-styled social activism and advocacy for various causes which he considers attention-worthy. This includes caste issues, gender equality, and the democratisation of the arts. In the guise of addressing these issues, he had been a vocal critic of Hinduism and a staunch supporter of the Periyarite thoughts.
In his attempt to be vocal about the need to break down barriers in classical music and make it more accessible to people from all backgrounds, he often resorted to making various statements against particular castes and communities especially the Brahmins by quoting EVR Periyar. For those unversed, Periyar had a long history of spreading hate against Hindu deities including breaking Murthis to Ravana leela.
In March 2023, TM Krishna released a song in honour of Periyar to commemorate 100 years of his “anti-caste” movement. The post shared by TM Krishna was reshared by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin as well. Unsurprisingly, Tamil Nadu CM had come out in support of TM Krishna when the renowned musicians protested against Madras Music Academy over conferring the Sangitha Kalanidhi Award to TM Krishna.
TM Krishna has closely worked with Tamil writer Perumal Murugan, who has misrepresented Hindu temple festivals of yore in order to cast aspersions on the character of Indian men and women.
On Diwali last year, TM Krishna took to X to express his support for Palestinians saying that he found it difficult to celebrate the festival of lights at such a time.
“Difficult to celebrate the festival of lights when for people of Palestine lights indicate incoming death. Support for the Palestinians is support for all those who have been marginalised. In prayer for peace and a return of humanity,”
“Support for the Palestinians is support for all those who have been marginalised,” he wrote along with a photo of himself.
In an op-ed on 14th January 2024, TM Krishna trained guns at Infosys founder N Narayan Murthy and Sudha Murthy for endorsing longer work hours by likening their views to “Brahminism” followed by an unending rant.
In another casteist op-ed on 11th February 2024, he began by writing that the Indian classical dance form Bharatanatyam has been appropriated by Brahmins leading to its alteration and erosion.
TM Krishna, despite being a Carnatic vocalist himself, has said that Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam are not superior to other art forms. “Carnatic music is just like gaana, cinema music, or rock and roll,” he said in an interview in January.
In 2022, he performed in an event marking the Gujarat riots titled “Gujarat 2002-2002. Memories of Struggle.” He performed an “Urdu bhajan” at the event.
In an atrocious and misleading op-ed in September 2020, TM Krishna declared that Guru-Shishya parampara in Indian arts is abusive and should be abolished. He used the case of sexual abuse allegations against the Gundecha brothers to demonise the entire tenet of the Guru-Shishya tradition which has given India great artists and performers.
In 2018, irked by the outrage from Hindu connoisseurs of the arts for performing Christian hymns in Carnatic, TM Krishna vowed that he would sing one song on Allah and Jesus every month. The same year, admitted that he feels no empathy when RSS members are killed by communists or Islamists in places like Kerala. Trying to give context to his barbarian and bloodthirsty beliefs, Krishna had funnily blamed the Modi government for making him inhuman. “They (BJP and allies) have made the rest of us crass and inhuman to the extent that we are unable to empathise when an RSS member is killed,”
Most importantly, in the context of the current petition, on 24th November 2017, he said that MS Subbulakshmi was celebrated only because of her upper caste. He had said, “Earlier in her career, Subbulakshmi’s music had incredible freeness in spirit but later it was imbued with a certain sorrow that was mesmerising in itself. Her music was what it was because of the sorrow in her.”
