On Monday (25th March), Carnatic musician sisters Ranjani-Gayatri lambasted the Madras Music Academy President N Murali for his controversial letter targeting them. In response to his earlier letter, they hit back against the “bigoted and casteist” jibe hurled at them. In the letter, the duo stated that the senior management of the Music Academy is filled only with Brahmins and Royals. Consequently, they urged its President and Executive Committee to tender resignations and make way for non-Brahmins in the management.
Notably, Academy President Murali had responded to their letter dated 20th March after they withdrew from the Music Academy conference to be held later this year under the Presidency of TM Krishna. The sisters had accused Krishna of glorifying Periyar and vilifying the Carnatic music community.
On 25th March, Ranjani-Gayatri shared their reply to the Madras Music Academy Chief on X. In the letter, they accused him of acting as a Spokesperson for the controversial awardee TM Krishna rather than a senior official of the Music Academy.
The Music Academy
— Ranjani Gayatri (@ranjanigayatri) March 25, 2024
Chennai
Dear Mr Murali,
We thank you for the courtesy of providing a response to our letter dated 20 March 2024.
We’d like to clarify that our letter to you was only a notification of our withdrawal without any request for your decisions or actions. We did not… pic.twitter.com/DT6QJoe6N8
In the letter, the sisters duo stated, “We were a bit surprised as to why your response reads like a release on behalf of the awardee (TM Krishna), erasing the distinction between him and the Music Academy.”
The 20th March letter was not to seek permission but rather to inform about our decision: Ranjani-Gayatri
Taking a swipe at the Academy President for his “unwarranted letter”, the sister duo said, “We’d like to clarify that our letter to you (Murali) was only a notification of our withdrawal without any request for your decisions or actions. We did not post the letter on social media but merely informed our fans on the same subject. Now we realise, this didn’t help you manage the optics and we are sorry about it.”
They clarified that their decision was not to question the perogative of the Music academy to select an awardee rather it was their conscious choice not to be “apologists for genocide mongers and filthy discourse”, referring to their criticism about TM Krishna.
They also slammed Murali for trying to twist the narrative and trying to cast aspersions on them.
The letter read, “With your verbose answer to questions we never raised, you are trying to build a convenient narrative and cast aspersions on us. Your statements to the press in this regard are immoral and dishonest.”
Lead by example, make way for non-Brahmins, Brahmins in the management of the Music Academy should tender their resignation: Ranjani-Gayatri
The duo also launched a scathing attack on The Hindu’s N Ram who according to them “joined as an undeclared spokesperson” and started a smear campaign branding them as a “bigoted, casteist coterie”.
In reply to the “bigoted and casteist” jibe made by N Ram, Ranjani-Gayatri requested the management of the Music Academy to lead by example and not merely resort to lip service for non-Brahmin communities.
Fact-check: Call out the bigoted and casteist coterie targeting T.M. Krishna and The Music Academy for its choice of Krishna as Sangita Kalanidhi for the 2024 annual conference and concerts — which Hindutva disinformation text is the small coterie of musicians reading from? Here…
— N. Ram (@nramind) March 23, 2024
Voicing support for inclusivity and representation of all communities, they stated, “We immensely respect this hallowed institution and it will be the happiest day for us and for millions of people to see star performers emerge from underprivileged communities and dominate this stage. We want to see the day when the TTK auditorium is filled up with a diverse inclusive crowd from all communities and religious minorities.”
However, the sister duo argued that it may take some time for artists to emerge from all communities as it is a long journey to acquire musical prowess. However, they stated that as an “instant” and simple solution, the management should tender their resignation to walk their talk.
The letter states, “This transformation should begin at the top. Kindly start with the entrenched Executive Committee consisting of only Brahmins and royalty you have been heading for 2 decades. Unlike serious hardwork and the long journey it takes for artists to excel, this transformation is achievable instantly with a simple resolution and a bunch of resignations.”
“Please consider leading by example, lest the world call it mere lip service and start branding you as a ‘bigoted, casteist coterie’,” the letter further stated.
The Controversy explained in brief
The Music Academy, Madras annually bestows the ‘Sangeetha Kalanidhi’ award, the highest award in the Carnatic music industry. This year, the Academy announced to conferring the award on TM Krishna. However, following the decision, Ranjani-Gayatri announced their withdrawal while several other artists also joined them in withdrawing from the event under Krishna’s Presidency. Soon after many other musicians like the Trichur Brothers, N Ravikiran, etc also joined in, condemning the move to promote TM Krishna.
Following their announcement, Music Academy President Murali had targeted the duo in a strongly-worded letter that drew condemnation from three-time Grammy Award winner Indian music composer Ricky Kej and others.
Apart from artists from the Carnatic music industry, several usual suspects including N Ram joined in to hurl “casteist” jibes at the sister which prompted them to hit back at the Former MD and Editor in Chief of The Hindu.
@nramind
— Ranjani Gayatri (@ranjanigayatri) March 22, 2024
1. Please isolate venom & demonstrate falsehoods in our ‘notorious’ note to the Music Academy
2. Either you r part of the Periyar packaging factory or an ignorant believer
He called for killing of Brahmins, called the women of your house Prostitutes. Stop glorifying him https://t.co/JatIG2tOWU
The controversy also took a political turn when Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin extended support to TM Krishna.
The fresh letter by Ranjini-Gayatri hitting back at the Music Academy President for his letter targeting them and the duo urging him to resign could escalate the row further.
