Many renowned Indian classical musicians have pulled out of the Music Academy's Conference 2024 to oppose Carnatic singer TM Krishna being conferred with “Sangita Kalanidhi” title for 2024. He will also be presiding over the upcoming conference. Many Carnatic musicians have resolved to boycott the conference in protest of Krishna, a vocal critic of Sangh Parivar and the BJP government, getting the honour. Krishna is accused of tarnishing the 'community' that sustains Carnatic music, its traditional practitioners, and the entire ecosystem. Renowned singers Ranjani and Gayatri were among the first to announce their decision to withdraw from the conference. In a statement, they said that their participation in this year's conference under TM Krishna's presidency would constitute a "moral violation." They accused Krishna of causing "immense damage" to the Carnatic music world. Taking to social media platform X, Ranjani and Gayatri said, "We have communicated our decision to withdraw from participating in the Music Academy's conference 2024 & from presenting our concert on 25 Dec. We made this decision as the conference would be presided over by TM Krishna (sic). He has caused immense damage to the Carnatic music world, wilfully and happily stomped over the sentiments of this community, and insulted most respected icons like Tyagaraja and MS Subbulakshmi. "It's dangerous to overlook Mr. TM Krishna's glorification of a figure like EVR who 1. Openly proposed a genocide of 'brahmins' 2. Repeatedly called/abused every woman in this community with vile profanity 3. Relentlessly worked to normalize filthy language in social discourse," they posted on X. "We believe in a value system that respects art and artists, vaggeyakaras, rasikas, institutions, our roots, and culture. We will be in moral violation if we were to bury these values and join this year's conference," the musicians added. #thread 1/6 We have communicated our decision to withdraw from participating in the Music Academy’s conference 2024 & from presenting our concert on 25 Dec. We made this decision as the conference would be presided over by TM Krishna. #madrasmusicacademy #respectcarnaticmusic — Ranjani Gayatri (@ranjanigayatri) March 20, 2024 Another Carnatic musician Chitravina Ravikiran went a step further and returned his Sangita Kalanidhi Award from the academy to express his protest. On Twitter, he wrote, "RETURNING SANGITA KALANIDHI AWARD from ACADEMY: I’ve taken this step after careful consideration as principles much larger than all of us are at stake. However, I’ll always remain deeply grateful to the org for its role in my career from childhood (sic)." Meanwhile, Sridhar Vembu, the founder and CEO of Zoho, has also launched an attack on TM Krishna and claimed that he has teamed up with forces that are out to break the nation and its Dharma. He claimed, "I wish I had learned Carnatic Music and I have to admit to being a zero compared to a talent like T M Krishna. With that said upfront, I find his woke politics nauseating. If he truly wanted to reform Hindu society, he could start with Swami Vivekananda. Instead, he has sadly chosen to be in bed with forces that want to destroy Dharma and break this nation. That I cannot stand." I wish I had learned Carnatic Music and I have to admit to being a zero compared to a talent like T M Krishna. With that said upfront, i find his woke politics nauseating. If he truly wanted to reform Hindu society, he could start with Swami Vivekananda. Instead he has sadly… — Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) March 21, 2024 Dushyanth Sridhar, Vishakha Hari, Triuchur Brothers, and Vishakha Hari are among other singers, who have withdrawn their participation in the upcoming conference. On the other hand, singer Chinmayi has questioned the selective outrage of the Carnatic musician. In her tweets, she has asked why were the musicians, who are claiming that TM Krishna has brought shame to the Carnatic music, were silent during the #MeToo movement, when popular singers like Chitravina Ravikiran were accused of alleged sexual harassment. Chinmayi also questioned the moral high ground of the singers Ranjani and Gayatri. "Trust me when I say the Film Industry is a safer place than the Carnatic Music Industry," she tweeted.
