Silencing TM Krishna is an act of pure disgrace
Like all true artists, Krishna has, in his art, always strived to dissolve boundaries
The cancellation of the forthcoming concert of Carnatic vocalist, TM Krishna, is a travesty. Krishna, 42, is not merely one of the preeminent Carnatic musicians of his generation. He is an award winning author (his book, A Southern Music – A Karnatik Story, a socio-political exploration of his genre of music, won the prestigious Tata LitLive First Book Award); and a deeply thoughtful, committed and intelligent public intellectual.
Krishna’s concert was jointly organised by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the stellar cultural body, SPIC-MACAY. Following an attack by right wing trolls, AAI announced that the event had been postponed, because of an exigency. It is not known how the body had not spotted the said “exigency” when it had been promoting the event only a few days ago.
It is known that Krishna has been critical of the caste elitism in Carnatic music; that he has tried genre bending experiments such as including in his performances hymns in praise to Allah and Mary; that he has tried to expand the limits of his art form by performing the poetry of the controversial writer, Perumal Murugan; that he has spoken repeatedly about how he rejects the notion of India as a monolithic, Hindu country, and thinks of it as a multicultural, multireligious nation; and that he has faced similar protests from similar groups previously. Krishna has said that he is willing to perform this weekend on a stage, any stage, in Delhi. The Delhi government has reached out to him. But none of that makes the calling off of the concert any less of a disgrace.
Like all true artists, Krishna has, in his art, strived to dissolve boundaries, make his genre more inclusive, and forge something new out of what exists. The attack on him is much more than an attack on freedom of speech or dissent. When Krishna won the Ramon Magsasay Award in 2016, his citation spoke of his “forceful commitment as artist and advocate to art’s power to heal India’s deep social divisions”. Now, Krishna finds himself caught in the cleft of the deeply divided society we inhabit.