Activist Wilson, Carnatic singer Krishna win Magsaysay award

Both worked to achieve right to dignity and social inclusiveness in society

Karnataka-born Bezwada Wilson, a prolific campaigner for eradication of manual scavenging in India, and Carnatic singer TM Krishna from Chennai, were on Wednesday chosen for the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for 2016.

Apart from the two Indians, four others have been selected for the award – Conchita Carpio-Morales of the Philippines, Dompet Dhuafa of Indonesia, Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers and ‘Vientiane Rescue’ of Laos.

Wilson, the national convenor of the Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA), has been named as an awardee for “asserting the inalienable right to a life of human dignity” while Krishna was chosen for the award under the ‘Emergent Leadership’ category for bringing “social inclusiveness in culture”.

TM Krishna has been hailed in the citation as “showing that music can indeed be a deeply transformative force in personal lives and society itself.”

Krishna was trained from the age of six in the aristocratic Carnatic music.

“Though he earned a degree in economics, Krishna chose to be an artist and quickly rose to become a highly-admired concert performer of Carnatic classical music,” his citation said.

“An ancient vocal and instrumental musical system,” An ancient vocal and instrumental musical system, Carnatic music started centuries ago in temples and courts but was subsequently ‘classicised’ to become the almost exclusive cultural preserve of the Brahmin caste -- performed, organised, and enjoyed by the elite who have access to it,” the citation said.

“While grateful for how Carnatic music has shaped his artistry, Krishna would question the social basis of his art.

During the period 2011-2013, Krishna brought his passion and artistry to war-ravaged northern Sri Lanka, the first Carnatic musician to tour that region in three decades, and launched two festivals to promote “culture retrieval and revival” in that country.

“While much of his work is still ahead of him, he is embarked on an important path. Krishna is resolved to break barriers of caste, class or creed by democratising music, cultivating thought-processes and sensibilities that unite people rather than divide them,” the citation said.