Secretary of Chennai's renowned Madras Music Academy, eminent musicologist and academician, Pappu Venugopala Rao, has resigned from his post, according to a report by The News Minute. It is unconfirmed whether Rao's exit is due to his name appearing on lawyer Raya Sarkar's list of sexual harassers in academia, that was published last month.
The TNM report states that the official reason Rao mentioned in his resignation letter is that he was unable to commit time to his duties at the Academy anymore.
Meanwhile, the TNM report states that multiple sources confirmed that the Music Academy had convened a meeting after Rao's name came on the list where he was given an ultimatum - to either deny the allegations against him publicly, or to resign from his post, both of which Rao refused to do initially. The TNM report adds that they are not aware of the nature of veracity of the claims against Rao.
N Murali, president of the Academy confirmed to the News Minute that Pappu Venugopala Rao resigned on October 29 and according to his resignation letter, it was because of his frequent travels that he was unable to cope with the commitments that came with his Music Academy post. The President did not comment on the sexual harassment allegations. Rao could not be contacted for confirmation, says the TNM report.
Well-known dancer and choreographer Dr Anita R Ratnam is quoted as saying to The News Minute: “Mr Rao has been courteous and professional in my rare interactions with him. To have the Madras Music Academy's name associated with this unsavoury list is embarrassing and unfortunate. As a single woman and a performer I am well aware of the danger of sexual predators in the arts world. Naming and shaming the alleged culprits blows the issue out into the open and demands discussion.”
If Rao's resignation is connected to Raya Sarkar's list, this could be the first time an institution has taken some sort of action against an employee accused in the list. Lawyer Raya Sarkar's list invites survivors of sexual abuse in universities and other learning circles to contact her directly and name their harassers.
Pappu Venugopala Rao is an established musicologist, a dance critic, litterateur, author, scriptwriter and composer. He has written 15 dance-dramas, 15 books, over 100 lyrics as also the Suprabhaatam of Dwaraka Tirumala temple. He has specialized in Telugu and Sanskrit literature.
Following Raya Sarkar's sexual harassers list yet another similar Facebook post surfaces
Partha Chatterjee, one of the 'sexual harassers' in Raya Sarkar's list demands removal of his name
Raya Sarkar says all named in her list violated Visakha guidelines' sexual harassment grounds
Raya Sarkar interview: 'Professors accused of sexual harassment promising victims passage to Oxford'