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Nadda questions targeting of Ilaiyaraaja for praising Modi
“Is this democratic? One can have different views and yet coexist happily but why take to insults?” Nadda asked in a statement.
Chennai: BJP president J P Nadda on Monday said “elements aligned to the ruling party” in Tamil Nadu are “verbally lynching, smearing and humiliating” one of India’s tallest musical maestros just because he has views not palatable to one political party and their allies.
Nadda was reacting to the controversy over legendary music composer Ilaiyaraaja’s foreword in a book where he praises Prime Minister Narendra Modi likening him to B R Ambedkar.
“Is this democratic? One can have different views and yet coexist happily but why take to insults?” Nadda asked in a statement.
Several in the state have criticised Ilayaraaja’s foreword.
Meanwhile Oscar-winning musician A R Rahman has come under praise for his reaction that Tamil should be the link language in the country countering Amit Shah’s comments that Hindi should be spoken as the unifying language. With this both Chennai-based pan-India musicians are embroiled in a controversy occupying different ends of the political spectrum.
78-year-old Ilaiyaraaj is known by many names such as ‘maestro, ‘Isaignani’ (saint of music) for producing music that has enthralled generations across the world. But this didn’t shield him from the backlash on social media. Voices against the BJP questioned Ilaiyaraaja’s support for Modi at a time when violence against Muslims was increasing. Congress MP Karti Chidambaram tweeted that the comparison is “wholly inappropriate as he is equating a person who has thrown all constitutional norms & propriety with the scholar who was instrumental in framing our constitution…The social reforms mooted by Ambedkar are in stark contrast to the poisonous venom injected by Modi into society.”
On April 14, the book, titled ‘Ambedkar & Modi: Reformer’s Ideas, Performer’s Implementation’, published by Bluekraft Digital Foundation, was launched. In an extract from Ilaiyaraaja’s foreword uploaded on Twitter by the publication’s CEO, Akhilesh Mishra, the maestro’s writing reads, “The book also brings out some striking parallels between the personalities of Dr. BR. Ambedkar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Both these striking personalities succeeded against odds that people from socially disempowered sections of society face. Both saw poverty and stifling social structures from close quarters and worked to dismantle them. Both dreamt big for India, but both are also practical men who believe in action rather than mere thought exercises.”
He adds that the book attempts to study the intersection of India’s development journey under Modi with the vision of Ambedkar across domains such as industrialisation to social justice to women empowerment. Ilaiyaaraja praises Modi for strengthening these aspects and recommends youngsters to read it to be informed of how a ‘New India’ is being built.
Ilaiyaraaja’s family also got dragged into the controversy raging on social media as his younger brother Gangai Amaran, who is also a musician, joined the BJP in 2017. Ilaiyaraaja’s son Yuvan Shankar Raja, who had converted to Islam in 2014, had tweeted a post with his photo with a caption, “Dark Dravidian. Proud Tamilian,” on Monday. To this, BJP’s Tamil Nadu president K Annamalai told reporters that he is darker than Yuvan. “I am darker and more Dravidian and Tamilian than him. If he is dark, I’m as dark as a crow.”
Annamalai had earlier criticised those blaming Ilayaraja, terming them as power brokers of an “ecosystem created by the DMK”.
