CHENNAI: Renowned Carnatic musician T M Krishna on Thursday vowed to release a Carnatic song every month on Jesus or Allah in response to the trolls in social media who abused a Carnatic singer for performing in a Christian event.
The trolls in social started targetting Carnatic singer O S Arun after he posted that he would be participating in a Christian event titled ''Yesuvin Sangama Sangeetham'', conceptualised by T Samuel Joseph (Shyaam), a student of Lalgudi J Jayaraman and scheduled next week.
Subsequently, Arun announced that he is cancelling his participation in the event due to various reasons. Some of the posts in social media accused Arun of "collaborating with the stooge of the Vatican." The
abusive comments said such singer must convert to Christianity and stop singing Carnatic songs.
Responding to the hate campaign, the Magsaysay award winner wrote, "Considering the vile comments and threats issued by many on social media regarding Carnatic compositions on Jesus, I announce here that I will be releasing one Carnatic song every month on Jesus or Allah."
When contacted by Express, Krishna said, "I have been observing the comments on social media for four to five days now and finally decide that the best way an artist can respond is through art. We just cannot
get bullied by these people. Music belongs to everybody and has to embrace everything."
He drew much support from the netizens and Krishna had previously sung Tamil Sufi songs at a church in Mumbai and also held a kutchery at a church in the city, a couple of months ago.
But not everyone is willing to take up the fight like Krishna. Carnatic singer Nithyasree Mahadeven, who was also criticised by the trolls for singing a "Christian song", apologised for "hurting sentiments." She wrote in social media on Thursday saying that the Christian song “Samaanulevaru prabho’ she sung on Jesus recently was only to bolster communal peace and harmony and that it not have semblance of any kind to saint Thyagaraja’s masterpiece ‘Rama nee samaanamevaru’.
In a Facebook post, she wrote, "I apologize for inadvertently hurting your sentiments, if any. I am against religious conversion of any kind, and will never engage in any act that would endorse or propagate religious conversion."