Singer Chinmayi Sripada has reacted strongly to lyricist Vairamuthu being honoured with the Jnanpith Award on Saturday. She took to Twitter to express her anger and also called out those supposting and praising the #MeToo accused. In 2018, Chinmayi had accused Vairamuthu for sexually abusing her and highlighted claims made against others within the music industry.
Chinmayi Sripada furious about the honour for Vairamuthu
Chinmayi wrote in a tweet, “In 2018, multiple women of different age groups named one Poet – Lyricist as their molester. Today the Gnanpith is awarded to the man, after someone like Sri Jayakantan, whose daughter called Vairamuthu out for presenting a forged, fake letter by Sri Jayakanthan ‘praising’ Vairamuthu.
“A committee from Kerala announced him as for the ONV Kurup award which was later ‘returned’ as voices of justice from their society rose to speak against sullying Sri ONV Kurup’s name. The collective voices of the women who named him, were silenced. I paid a very heavy price – the rest of the women who left their dreams behind weren’t half as lucky as I.”
Chinmayi calls out Kamal Haasan
She also called out Kamal Haasan for praising Vairamuthu as a ‘mentor’. “For God’s sake 🤦ðŸ½♀️🤦ðŸ½♀️🤦ðŸ½♀️🤦ðŸ½♀️🤦ðŸ½♀️ P.S.: Men in such power in cinema transitioning to politics completely turning a deaf ear to women who come on record to say they were molested by “his uncle-mentor” must remind women who vote – that men will never be on our side. The weirdest thing – one of the women in his own party publicly named the Poet.
“End of the day, men WILL stand by their bros, uncles, dads, friends, mentors. Who cares if multiple women were traumatised?”
Kamal’s message in Tamil can be translated as, “Tamil literature, which has a long and rich tradition, has received the prestigious Jnanpith Award for the third time. After the Jnanpith received by Jayakanthan, it has taken a quarter of a century for Tamil to earn this great honour again. My dear friend, the “Emperor of Poets” Vairamuthu, has brought this pride to Tamil.
I feel proud to congratulate my friend—whose poetic words, “The sky is a Bodhi tree for me; every day it brings me a message,” first reached my ears, entered my heart, and eventually blossomed into friendship.”
In 2018, Chinmayi was removed from the South Indian Cine, Television Artistes and Dubbing Artistes Union (SICTADAU) after she came out in support of the women who had named Radha Ravi, president of the dubbing union.
