The Supreme Court has issued an interim order that prevents controversial musician TM Krishna from being recognized as the recipient of the Sangita Kalanidhi MS Subbulakshmi Award. TM Krishna, the musician who notoriously made Hinduphobic comments and disrespected the greatest of the carnatic singers, MS Subbulakshmi was challenged by the grandson of MS Subbulakshmi regarding the Music Academy’s decision to award him in his grandmother’s name.
The award, conferred by the Music Academy and sponsored by The Hindu Group was presented to him on 15th of December 2024. The court remarked, “As the award has been already awarded on 15.12.2024, we deem it appropriate to say that defendant no.4 (TM Krishna) should not be recognised as a recipient of the Sangita Kalanidhi MS Subbulakshmi Award and is also restrained from projecting himself as a recipient of the Sangita Kalanidhi MS Subbulakshmi Award.”
A bench comprising Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti passed the order in response to a petition by the grandson of Bharat Ratna MS Subbulakshmi. The petition challenged a Madras High Court division bench’s interim order that had permitted the conferment of the award despite allegations against Krishna.
The Court emphasized the unparalleled legacy of MS Subbulakshmi and issued the order until questions surrounding Krishna’s alleged comments about Subbulakshmi were resolved.
Senior Advocate N Venkataraman, representing the petitioner, argued that Krishna’s remarks in articles published by The Caravan and The Wire were disrespectful. Venkataraman cited terms like “the greatest hoax of the twentieth century” and “saintly Barbie doll,” used by Krishna to describe MS Subbulakshmi. He compared granting the award to Krishna to bestowing a Mahatma Gandhi award on someone who insulted Gandhi, calling it contrary to constitutional morals.
Who is TM Krishna
TM Krishna is a Carnatic vocalist who often gains the limelight with his Hinduphobic, anti-brahmin stance. Despite being a practitioner of Carnatic music, Krishna has consistently tried to undermine its traditions and origins, claiming it holds no superiority over other genres like gaana or rock and roll.
Krishna frequently aligns himself with anti-Hindu narratives. He openly praises Periyar, a known antagonist of Hinduism, even releasing a song in 2023 to honor Periyar’s so called “anti-caste” movement, which included idol-breaking and denigrating Hindu deities. TM Krishna on many occasions has displayed his hateful stand against the same brahmin community that shaped carnatic music.
In 2018, Krishna faced backlash for incorporating Christian hymns into Carnatic music, which many viewed as a deliberate attempt to provoke Hindu sentiment. He also admitted that he feels no sympathy when a RSS worker gets killed by communists and Islamists. Most egregiously, Krishna attacked the legacy of Bharat Ratna MS Subbulakshmi, claiming her fame stemmed from caste privilege and making derogatory comments about her art.
The Music Academy’s decision to honor TM Krishna with the Sangita Kalanidhi Award 2024 also met resistance from the Carnatic music community. Several renowned artists, including Ranjani-Gayatri, the Trichur Brothers, Dushyanth Sridhar, and Vishakha Hari withdrew from participating in the upcoming Margazhi music festival, citing the troublesome hateful ideology TM Krishna upholds.
Chitravina N Ravikiran, a previous recipient of the award in 2017, announced his decision to return the honor, stating, “Principles much larger than all of us are at stake.” Similarly, the family of legendary mridangist Palghat T S Mani Iyer also expressed their disapproval and sought to return the award in protest.
Awarding the top award of the carnatic tradition Sangita Kalanidhi Award to TM Krishna, the very man who doesn’t respect the carnatic music tradition could be seen as nothing but shameful. In contemporary times, disrespecting the Hindu traditions and brahmin community has become a pathway in order to achieve the greatest of honours. TM Krishna got his due for all the hateful narratives he spread. The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin from the known anti-hindu political party, DMK had earlier came in support of the TM Krishna and the entire IT cell machinery is working to make the support flow in the controversial artist’s favour.
