The Singers’ Association of Malayalam Movies (SAMAM) has taken an “equidistant” stand on the controversy surrounding singers K.S. Chithra and Sooraj Santhosh following their social media posts on the Ayodhya Ram Temple. Mr. Santhosh had resigned from the organisation alleging lack of support after he became a victim of cyberattacks.
Speaking at a press conference here on Monday to announce the organisation’s concert programme ‘Onnam Ragam’ to honour musician Perumbavoor G. Raveendranath, the office-bearers, including singers K.S. Sudeep Kumar, Vijay Yesudas, and R. Ravisankar, said that SAMAM was a charitable organisation that does not have a political stand.
‘Charitable organisation’
“SAMAM is not a workers’ union but a charitable organisation. We all have our respective political stands, but the organisation does not have any politics of its own. This is a political issue and those involved are both members of our organisation. But, we have not extended support to either of them. Ms. Chithra had also told us earlier that the organisation need not intervene. Mr. Santhosh did not contact us before announcing his resignation,” said Mr. Sudeep Kumar.
Mr. Santhosh had criticised vocalist Ms. Chithra for her social media post on the Ayodhya Ram Temple consecration. In a social media post, he had stated that Ms. Chithra forgot that the temple was constructed after demolishing the Babri Masjid.
Mr. Santhosh, who won the Kerala State Film Award for best singer in 2016, had said that the cyberattacks against him had “crossed all limits” ever since he had made the comment. A person was arrested on Monday allegedly for abusing him over the phone.
‘Onnam Ragam’ concert
The ‘Onnam Ragam’ event, the first of a series of events to honour yesteryear musicians who have made their mark in Malayalam film music, will be held at Tagore Theatre in the capital at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. Singers including Chithra, Unni Menon, G. Venugopal, Vijay Yesudas, Vidhu Prathap, Sudeep Kumar, Devanand, Rajalekshmi, Kavalam Sreekumar, Ravisankar, Ragesh Bhramanandan, Nishad, and Ganesh Sundaram will render popular songs composed by Mr. Raveendranath.
