National award-winning playback singer K S Chithra has been at the receiving end of vitriolic attacks for the last few days after her video message supporting the Ram temple consecration ceremony appeared on social media. In the video message released on Sunday, Chithra is seen urging people to chant “Shri Rama, jaya Rama, jaya jaya Rama” at 12:20 pm on January 22, the time of the ceremony in Ayodhya; she also asked everyone to light lamps at home that evening. The video, recorded after Sangh parivar activists visited Chithra with an ‘akshat’ offering, ends with her reciting the mantra, “Loka samasta sukhino bhavantu (May everyone be happy).”
Hell broke loose on social media when Chithra’s video got traction. She has been subjected to trolling, memes and vile criticism since then. There have been boycott calls and several public pledges to stop listening to her songs. The general tone of the argument against her has been that she was endorsing something associated with “genocide and massacre” and that she has become a tool in the “political gameplan of the BJP”. While handles associated with the BJP supported Chithra, her opponents belonged to the rest of the political spectrum, especially the Left and the IUML. To be fair, senior leaders from the Left and the Congress, including leader of the opposition V D Satheesan and Kerala culture minister Saji Cheriyan, came out in support of Chithra when she was being bullied and harassed by their followers.
The last few days must have been quite traumatic for the singer and she does not deserve such a treatment. Chithra is a known devotee and, for her, the video must have been an act of devotion. As an individual, she has every right to do that. If the question is about the political correctness of endorsing the temple inauguration, then the right answer would be that everyone is entitled to his or her political position. If one finds it problematic, one can very well ignore it. The strangest part of the whole controversy was that those behind the boycott calls and vile attacks are considered as prominent apostles of the freedom of expression. What they seem to have forgotten is that political battles are to be fought with ideological tools, not with derision and vitriol.