Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan made headlines when a video of him assaulting his student with a slipper went viral. The video drew ire from a lot of people in the music industry. Recently, Tamil singer Chinmayi Sripada shared her thoughts on the video. She said that the prevailing ‘guru-shishya’ mentality has led to people accepting whatever the teacher says.
In a conversation with Hindustan Times, Chinmayi Sripada called out the ‘guru-shishya parampara’ that is prevalent in the country. She said that under this mentality the students are ‘brainwashed’ into agreeing with whatever the teacher does or says. The singer added that people should have a worldview of their own so that they can realize the toxic acts.
Chinmayi Sripada said, “In this entire parampara, a lot of us are brainwashed into yes-manning whatever our guru says. Until and unless we actually cultivate a worldview, we don’t realise that a lot of what our gurus have been doing is pretty toxic.”
Chinmayi Sripada also empasised that several popular musicians are ‘alleged sexual offenders.’ She also said that this form of violence by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan on a student is not new. She continued, “It’s not going to make any dent for such artistes, because fan worship is blind. If you look at the transgressions of a lot of these musicians, I don’t think anybody really cares. You really think all the artistes who are at this peak of stardom have a squeaky-clean image? No. This is some sort of expression of a pure alpha male.”
After the incident, the 'Zaroori Tha' singer appeared on a podcast and apologized to his student. He said, “He is my protege and I accepted that I scolded and trashed him. Later I apologised.”
