It is an outrage time again and why not. The offenders can’t get away so easily. Tamil poet and lyricist Vairamuthu has been chosen for the fifth ONV literary award instituted by the ONV Cultural Academy in Kerala. This is the first time that the award is being presented to a non-Malayali writer, according to reports.
However, Tamil singer Chinmayi Sripada called out the academy and criticised the jury for presenting the esteemed award to Vairamuthu, who has been allegedly accused by 17 women of sexual harassment during the MeToo movement. In 2018, Chinmayi herself had opened up about her bitter experience with the veteran lyricist and accused him of sexual harassment. Expressing support to Chinmanyi, actress Parvathy Thiruvothu said that it is ‘immense disrespect’ to give the honour to Vairamuthu. “ONV sir is our pride. His contribution as a poet and lyricist is incomparable; how it has nourished our culture. Our hearts and minds have benefited through his body of work,” she wrote in an Instagram post.
She added: “This is exactly why it is immense disrespect to give such an honour in his name to the accused of sexual assault crimes.” She further wrote: “17 women have come out with their stories. We don’t know how many more have been wronged. There seems to be enough whataboutery to continue wronging those who are wronged. Only to uphold the reputation of those in power. Nothing is more important than humanity. If you come at me with the art vs artist debate, let me tell you that for me the humanity of the person creating the art is the only thing I’d choose to look at. I can live without the “art” of those who hollow out lives with absolute impunity.”
Filmmaker-actress Geetu Mohandas and filmmaker Anjali Menon have also expressed solidarity to Chinmayi. Vocalist TM Krishna called it ‘utterly shameful’. He tweeted: “This is how our society validates and gives more strength to someone who has been called out by several women as a sexual predator. Utterly Shameful!”
