Chinmayi Sripada questions Vairamuthu’s Jnanpith honour; Reacts to Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan’s praise

Veteran Tamil poet and lyricist Vairamuthu has recently been honoured with the prestigious Jnanpith Award which is widely regarded as India’s highest literary recognition. Several prominent personalities congratulated the lyricist for the achievement. Among them were superstar Rajinikanth and actor-politician Kamal Haasan. However, the award announcement has also sparked controversy. Singer Chinmayi Sripada openly criticised the decision and questioned the praise coming from senior industry figures.Chinmayi Sripada, who has previously accused Vairamuthu of sexual misconduct during the #MeToo movement in 2018, expressed her disappointment through a series of posts on X.The National Award-winning singer criticised the decision to honour the lyricist.In her post, Chinmayi wrote: "In 2018, multiple women of different age groups named one Poet - Lyricist as their molester. Today the Gnanpith is awarded to the man, after someone like Sri Jayakantan, whose daughter called Vairamuthu out for presenting a forged, fake letter by Sri Jayakanthan 'praising' Vairamuthu."In another post, Chinmayi spoke about the consequences she faced after speaking out publicly during the #MeToo movement.She stated that several women had raised their voices earlier, "The collective voices of the women who named him, were silenced. I paid a very heavy price - the rest of the women who left their dreams behind weren't half as lucky as I."The singer further wrote: "For God's sake... P.S.: Men in such power in cinema transitioning to politics completely turning a deaf ear to women who come on record to say they were molested by 'his uncle-mentor' must remind women who vote - that men will never be on our side. The weirdest thing - one of the women in his own party publicly named the Poet."Chinmayi also directly reacted to congratulatory messages posted by Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan for Vairamuthu’s award win.Reacting to Kamal Haasan's Tweet, she wrote: "End of the day, men WILL stand by their bros, uncles, dads, friends, mentors. Who cares if multiple women were traumatised?"Later, she reacted to Rajinikanth’s congratulatory message with a brief but sharp remark, "Ayyyyyyoooo!!! Puriyave puriyaadha??! (You don't understand right?)"Meanwhile, Vairamuthu has now become the third writer in the history of Tail literature to received the prestigious honour for literature and the previous ones to receive was famous writer - journalist Jayakanthan in 2002 and writer Akilan in 1975.Upon receiving several hate comments from fans of the superstars, Chinmayi replied by Tweeting, "A lot of you are just generally angry because I called out the Rajini Sir and Kamal Sir. I was a fan too. I have the right to express my disappointment from men who I foolishly and naively expected would do better - especially that one of them is an MP as well - like the characters they play in the films, which a punch line of doing the right thing. As a citizen in this country, and as a woman, a parent of kids, watching mounting cases of sexual harassment, assault, abuse by men in power every single day, while those who can make a difference turn a blind eye - it is a blazing disappointment and my right to ask a politician in a democratic, how they are leading by example."DISCLAIMER: If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, assault, or abuse, please seek immediate help. Reach out to a mental health specialist, NGO, or trusted individual. Several helplines are available to offer assistance.