This is the second concert featuring Carnatic musician T.M. Krishna that has been cancelled after outcry by Hindutva zealots.
New Delhi: A Delhi concert featuring Carnatic maestro T.M. Krishna has been cancelled after the organiser — a public sector organisation — was targeted with a barrage of abusive tweets and boycott calls.
The concert was scheduled for Saturday as part of the second edition of the ‘Dance and Music in the Park’ event hosted by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). The latter has reportedly sought a postponement.
This is the second concert involving Krishna – the first was at a temple in the US earlier this year – that has been cancelled following attacks from Hindutva trolls on a few Carnatic musicians for allegedly encouraging conversions through their renditions of Christian hymns.
Krishna was besieged with criticism when he took a stand against the abuse heaped on singers O.S. Arun and Nityashree by Hindutva activists who threatened them for singing Christian hymns in the Carnatic style.
When the controversy broke, Krishna announced he would release compositions on Allah and Jesus every month to counter this wave of intolerance.
Speaking to The Indian Express, AAI chairman Guruprasad Mohapatra denied reports that the concert was postponed because of the online criticism. “We have some issues. Some exigency has come up and we are not free that day,” a report in the paper quoted him as saying.
‘You should be ashamed’
Organisers of the Delhi event were flooded with criticism and abuse on social media soon after they put up an official announcement.
“You should be ashamed of associating with a guy who is notorious for insulting and degrading the sacred art that feeds him,” said one, adding, “He is also known for badmouthing the organizations that patronize him. In a way, he fits the definition of #UrbanNaxal. Think!”
Another Twitter user tagged the Prime Minister in his post, saying, “@NarendraModi, you were talking about danger from ‘Urban Maoists’ just few days back? Here is one being provided a platform by AAI under your government. This means only either you have no control over orgs under your government or you don’t care.”
A third said, “Please cancel this. He has long back stopped singing. He is only doing Christmas carols.”
“Stop this… I will file a public litigation [sic]. You cannot use my tax money for anti-Indian naxal based performance,” added a fourth.
Also read: Organisers urged to cancel Carnatic musician TM Krishna’s concert to protect Hinduism
‘Not surprised’
Confirming the cancellation to ThePrint, Krishna said, “I am not surprised about this (cancellation). The fact that we are living in a country where this kind of behaviour is becoming very common is something that we should all be very worried about.”
“Whether they agree with my political position or not, as a society we should worry about this kind of bullying,” he added, “Personally, it does not affect me in any fashion but it is worrisome that it is happening regularly. It happened to me today, it could happen to anyone else tomorrow. It happened to (Tamil author) Perumal Murugan too.”
“What bothers me is, where have we reached as a country today?”
Krishna said there had been several other programmes featuring him where the organisers stood their ground despite receiving threat calls. However, he added, the cancellation of an “event of this scale” organised by the AAI had “definitely created a sense of apprehension among performing artistes”.
With the trolling directed at the AAI Twitter handle, Krishna is quite convinced the event was cancelled because of his involvement. “The first concert that was cancelled as a result of vendetta against me was in Washington DC. This is the second concert and the first in India after this controversy broke out,” he said. “Though they are not saying directly that this is the reason, it is evident from how things have panned out.”
Krishna said that, until Tuesday evening, the AAI had said they would go ahead with the concert despite the trolling. They even told co-organiser SpicMacay that they should ensure additional security, he added. Representatives of SpicMacay, he said, were suddenly called for a meeting and told by the AAI that the event could not be held due to work exigencies.
Also read: TM Krishna promises 1 Allah, Jesus song a month after Hindu group attacks Carnatic singers