The Madras Music Academy has been in the news lately. After singer TM Krishna was awarded the Sangita Kalanidhi award, Carnatic musicians wasted no time expressing their disappointment. Following this, the Carnatic musician duo Ranjani and Gayatri also protested and withdrew their names from the Music Academy Conference. The Academy wrote back and criticized the sisters. The duo responded to the letter and posted it on social media.
Taking to their X (formerly known as Twitter) account, Ranjani and Gayatri shared the letter that they had written to the Madras Music Academy. They called out the Academy for twisting their previous letter and slandering their name on social media. They also called out the Academy for being casteist and having people only from the upper caste in the top management.
In their letter, they wrote, “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 post the letter on social media but merely informed our fans on the same subject. Now we realize, this didn't help you manage the optics, and we are sorry about it.”
Take a look at the letter here.
They continued, “We were a bit surprised as to why your response reads like a release on behalf of the awardee, erasing the distinction between him and the Music Academy. But it became obvious when Mr. N. Ram, media hegemon, joined as an undeclared spokesperson, with his campaign branding us a “bigoted, casteist coterie”.”
They also called out the Academy for being casteist. They added, “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 hard work and the long journey, it takes for artists to excel, this transformation is achievable instantly with a simple resolution and a bunch of resignations.”
Not just Ranjani and Gayatri but singer Dushyanth Sridhar has also pulled out from the conference.
