Actress Parvathy took to Instagram today to slam the jury of the ONV Literary Award for honouring a person who has been accused by many of sexual harassment.
Yesterday it was announced that Tamil lyricist Vairamuthu, who was called out by as many as 17 women for sexual harassment, had been chosen for the award.
The award, instituted in memory of the poet ONV Kurup, is conferred on poets in Malayalam and other Indian languages. This, however, is the first time a non-Malayali poet has been chosen for the award.
Parvathy slammed the jury headed by veteran filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan for its decision to present the #MeToo accused with the prestigious award. She characterized it as disrespect to Kurup.
In her note on Instagram, she said, “ONV Sir is our pride. His contribution as a poet and lyricist is incomparable. How it has nourished our culture. Our hearts and minds have benefited through his body of work. This is exactly why it is immense disrespect to give such an honour in his name to the accused of sexual assault crimes (sic)."
She went on: “Seventeen women have come out with their stories. We don’t know how many more have been wronged. There seems to be enough whataboutery to continue wronging those who are wronged. Only to uphold the reputation of those in power. Nothing is more important than humanity. If you come at me with the art vs artist debate, let me tell you that for me the humanity of the person creating the art is the only thing I’d choose to look at. I can live without the 'art' of those who hollow out lives with impunity."
In 2018, at the height of the #MeToo movement in India, singer and dubbing artiste Chinmayi Sripaada had named Vairamuthu as an offender. She was followed by 16 other women in calling out the veteran lyricist.