Chinmayi Sripaada hits out at Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth for praising Vairamuthu: 'Who cares if multiple women were traumatised?'

Chinmayi Sripaada on Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth

Poet and lyricist Vairamuthu was conferred with the prestigious Jnanpith Award on Saturday. Congratulatory messages from actors like Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth were in order for him as he won the prestigious honour. Singer Chinmayi Sripaada, who was among those who named lyricist Vairamuthu during the MeToo movement, criticised them for praising him.

Chinmayi Sripaada slams Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth

When Rajinikanth congratulated Vairamuthu for the honour and wrote in Tamil, "My heartfelt congratulations to my dear friend, the esteemed poet Vairamuthu, recipient of the great Jnanpith Award of our Indian nation. @Vairamuthu #JnanpithAward," Chinmayi called him out, writing, "Ayyyyyyoooo!!! Puriyave puriyaadha (what a puzzle)?!"

Kamal had also congratulated Vairamuthu, writing in Tamil, "Tamil literature, with its long tradition, has received the prestigious literary award, the Jnanpith, for the third time. After the previous Jnanpith received by Jayakanthan, after the passage of a quarter century, my uncle poet-emperor @Vairamuthu has added this great honour to Tamil."

Chinmayi called him out, writing, "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. At the end of the day, men WILL stand by their bros, uncles, dads, friends, and mentors. Who cares if multiple women were traumatised?"

For those unversed, Vairamuthu became the third Tamil writer, after novelists Akilan (1975) and Jayakanthan (2002), to be honoured with the Jnanpith Award.

About Sripaada's accusations against Vairamuthu

In 2018, Chinmayi accused Vairamuthu of sexual harassment, noting that nearly 20 women had also levelled allegations of misconduct against him. After his win, she shared a tweet that read, "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 Jayakanthan."

She also recalled facing repercussions for speaking out against him. "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 was."