Actor Parvathy on Thursday took to Instagram to slam the jury of ONV literary award for honouring a Me Too accused. On Wednesday, it was announced that Tamil lyricist Vairamuthu, who was called out by 17 women over sexual harassment, was conferred with the ONV literary award.
The award, instituted in memory of poet ONV Kurup, is awarded to poets from Malayalam and other Indian languages. This is the first time a non-Malayali is being conferred with this award.
Parvathy slammed the jury, headed by filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan, on their decision to present lyricist Vairamuthu, a MeToo accused, with the prestigious award. She said it’s a huge disrespect to ONV Kurup.
He note on Instagram read: “ONV Sir is our pride. His contribution as a poet and lyricist is incomparable. How it has nourished our culture. Our hearts and minds have benefited through his body of work. This is exactly why it is immense disrespect to give such an honour in his name to the accused of sexual assault crimes."
She further wrote: “17 women have come out with their stories. We don’t know how many more have been wronged. There seems to be enough whataboutery to continue wronging those who are wronged. Only to uphold the reputation of those in power. Nothing is more important than humanity. If you come at me with the art vs artist debate, let me tell you that for me the humanity of the person creating the art is the only thing I’d choose to look at. I can live without the “art” of those who hollow out lives with absolute impunity."
{{/usCountry}}She further wrote: “17 women have come out with their stories. We don’t know how many more have been wronged. There seems to be enough whataboutery to continue wronging those who are wronged. Only to uphold the reputation of those in power. Nothing is more important than humanity. If you come at me with the art vs artist debate, let me tell you that for me the humanity of the person creating the art is the only thing I’d choose to look at. I can live without the “art” of those who hollow out lives with absolute impunity."
{{/usCountry}}Also read: Neena Gupta on sexual advances from men: 'Nobody can take anybody for a ride unless they want to go'
"How do you justify this? #adoorgopalakrishnan and the jury who decided to the accused Vairamuthu this honour," she said at the end,
During 2018, during the MeToo movement, singer and dubbing artist Chinmayi Sripaada named Vairamuthu. 16 other women had called out the veteran lyricist.