-Creators Conclave Appeal
‘Padaipaalargal Sangamam’ has put forward this appeal against the announcement regarding the 2025 Jnanpith Award. The letter, which is to be sent to the President of the Bharatiya Jnanpith, is published here…
Chennai
21.03.2026
Kind Attention:
The President
Bharatiya Jnanpith Committee
New Delhi
Subject: An appeal to withdraw the Bharatiya Jnanpith Award announced for poet Vairamuthu for the year 2025.
Respected Sir,
Greetings.
The award selection committee announced on March 14, 2026, that poet Vairamuthu Ramasamy from Tamil Nadu has been selected for the ‘Bharatiya Jnanpith’ award for the year 2025, which is presented every year to honor deserving literary figures. On behalf of the literary organization ‘Padaippaalargal Sangamam’ (in English: Creators Conclave) from Tamil Nadu, we strongly condemn the announcement of this prestigious award to that controversial poet.
Poet Vairamuthu has been selected for the Jnanpith Award in recognition of his overall contribution to Tamil literature. After Mr. Akilan alias P.V. Akilandam (1975) and Mr. Jayakanthan (1982), it is indeed a matter of happiness that a Tamil writer has received the Jnanpith Award after 24 years. Even so, the question arises in many ways as to whether poet Mr. Vairamuthu truly possesses the qualifications worthy of this award.
• Is the mere fact that poet Vairamuthu has produced many works as a poet, writer, and lyricist sufficient qualification? Among living creators, is he truly the best to the extent of deserving this award?
• In a situation where several women have made serious sexual allegations (#MeToo) against Vairamuthu, the Jnanpith committee is duty-bound to explain whether selecting him for the award is appropriate.
• A creator should stand as the conscience of society. His works should serve to unite people. But poet Vairamuthu’s activities appear to incite hatred and show alignment with a particular political party. Are the members of the Jnanpith selection committee aware of these matters?
– We are submitting the above questions before the Jnanpith Award committee in a detailed and logical manner.
1. Is the selection process fair?
The Bharatiya Jnanpith has long stood as the highest honor for Indian writers. Many extraordinary Tamil creators passed away without ever receiving this award. Deceased Tamil writers such as poet Kannadasan, Thi. Janakiraman, La. Sa. Ramamirtham, Ashokamitran, Ki. Rajanarayanan, Sundara Ramasamy, Prabanjan, and Balakumaran were not given the Jnanpith Award. Likewise, among living writers, Indira Parthasarathy, Nanjil Nadan, Jeyamohan, and S. Ramakrishnan are still waiting without receiving this award. It remains an unresolved mystery in what way poet Vairamuthu is superior to them.
Poet Vairamuthu has been working as a lyricist in the Tamil film industry since 1980. In his early years, he gave many beautiful film songs. At the same time, he has also produced many low-quality songs. So far, he has received the National Award for Best Lyricist seven times. However, his prose literature and novels are not of modern literary quality. Therefore, the Jnanpith Award given to poet Vairamuthu creates, at the national level, the impression that there is no modern Tamil literature at all. When there are many far more remarkable literary figures in Tamil Nadu than him, the accusation against Vairamuthu is that he secured this award ahead of others through influence and recommendations.
One of the rules of the Jnanpith selection board is that the committee recommending the list of writers from each language must ensure that no deserving writer has been left out. Therefore, transparent answers are needed to the questions of who all were considered by the selection board in this matter, in what comparative ways Vairamuthu was superior to them, and who recommended him to the selection committee.
2. An award for someone accused of sexual allegation?
Poet Vairamuthu is someone who has faced complaints of misconduct toward women in the film industry by allegedly using his influence in that field. In October 2018, well-known playback singer Chinmayi Sripaada made a serious sexual allegation (#MeToo) against Vairamuthu. Her allegation was that he committed sexual misconduct against her during the 2005–06 period. However, because of Vairamuthu’s closeness to those in power, the Tamil Nadu police have taken no action against him to this day. On the contrary, because she accused him, singer Chinmayi’s personal professional life was affected. She was removed from the South Indian Cine, Television Artistes and Dubbing Artistes Union, of which she was a member.
Not only Chinmayi, but 16 more women have made similar allegations against poet Vairamuthu. Chinmayi Sripaada and another singer, Bhuvana Seshan, filed complaints against poet Vairamuthu with the National Commission for Women in 2018–19. Even after that, the police did not conduct any investigation in this matter.
It is often said that one should not confuse a person’s personal life with their literary talent. But this is not a question of Vairamuthu’s personal life. The allegation made by the 17 women who came forward under #MeToo is that he abused women and committed wrongdoing by using his workplace influence. We believe that the Jnanpith Award committee would agree that if a criminal case had been registered against him for this, he would not have been under consideration for the award today.
3. Confused thinker:
We know that a person’s personal political views, ideology, and the likes are not considered by the award committee. However, poet Vairamuthu has, on sensitive issues such as language and religion, made unnecessary comments and caused divisions in the society.
In particular, in 2018, Vairamuthu insulted Andal Nachiyar, who is worshipped by Hindus, by referring to her as a “devadasi.” When Andal devotees condemned this, he tried to justify it by saying that he had merely quoted a foreign researcher without any evidence. (He said it was the opinion of a researcher from Indiana University in the United States. But when that was examined, it too turned out to be false). In connection with this, protests were held against him across Tamil Nadu. Many people filed defamation cases against him in courts. He has obtained stay orders against them. Even if he had been questioned in one of those cases, he would not have found a place now in the recommendation list for the award.
Likewise, by wrongly explaining a verse from the Kamba Ramayanam (“Thigaiththanai Polum Seigai”), Vairamuthu insulted Sri Rama—whom Hindus worship as sacred—by calling him “mentally affected” (August 2025). He also gave interpretations of Tamil sages such as Thiruvalluvar and Vallalar through the lens of his preferred political views, and faced criticism from many people.
Poet Vairamuthu, who has continued to speak in ways that insult Hindu religious beliefs, if he had similarly insulted followers of other religions, would his name have been considered for the Jnanpith Award? Leaving that aside, the question also arises whether hurting the religious sentiments of the country’s majority community is something worthy of being honored with an award.
Further, Vairamuthu has damaged harmony between languages by expressing views against Hindi, one of our sister languages. To repay a debt of gratitude to the Dravidian political movement he is associated with, awarding the national-level Jnanpith Award to a person who acts without concern for national welfare is ironic.
4. A person who was denied an award:
When poet Vairamuthu was announced as the recipient of Kerala’s literary award, the O.N.V. Kurup Award, in 2021, many people, including singer Chinmayi Sripada, voiced opposition. This also resonated among many in Kerala’s film industry. Therefore, the Kerala Cultural Academy, which was to present the award, withdrew its decision. The Jnanpith committee should consider such an ethical action as a precedent.
The very practice of requiring writers who are eligible for the award to apply is unfair. No self-respecting writer would apply for an award for themselves. In this situation, the Jnanpith Award selection board can only consider the unworthy recommendations sent from Tamil Nadu.
Since there is not even a single Tamil person on the award selection board, it is not possible to fully understand the background of the awardee. Therefore, the Jnanpith Award committee should appropriately establish expert panels in each Indian language, so that such embarrassments do not occur in the future.
Creators Conclave Collective Appeal:
National literary awards should set new benchmarks in literature. Literary awards must be in tune with modern literary trends. If awards are determined more by an author’s personal influence than by their individual achievement, that award will lose its value. Likewise, an award given to an undeserving person will create distrust in the literary world.
Therefore, we request the Jnanpith committee to reconsider and withdraw the Bharatiya Jnanpith Award announced for the honorable poet Vairamuthu. Withdrawing an announced award will be regarded as correcting a mistake, but if the award is given to the wrong person, it will become a grave error that causes the award to lose its prestige. It is also necessary to reform the criteria defined by the Jnanpith committee for this award.
When there are many highly qualified people in Tamil literature worthy of this award, for someone like poet Vairamuthu—whose literary quality is low and who faces serious allegations—to receive the award is not only a disgrace to the Tamil language, but also an insult to the entire Indian literary world. We believe that the Bharatiya Jnanpith Award selection committee will consider our sincere concerns stated above.
If there is a situation where the Jnanpith Award committee cannot change its decision, then as a minimum gesture of goodwill, we request that the President of India and the Vice President of India, who occupy the highest offices of the state, refrain from participating in the Jnanpith Award presentation ceremony.
Thanking you.
Regards,
Subbu (alias) V.R. Balasubramaniam
(Honorary Advisor, Creators Conclave)
098842 71376
V.M. Murali
(Coordinator, Creators Conclave)
099526 79126
Padman (alias) Na. Anandapadmanabhan
(Writer)
090944 98140
Rama. Nambi Narayanan
(Journalist)
094431 40930
Professor P. Kanagasabapathi
(Educator)
098422 33102
Poet Lakshmi Manivannan
(Writer)
082203 86795
B.R. Mahadevan
(Translator)
090945 69011
Poet Aranga. Subramaniam
(Writer)
094432 61757
Jawahar Vengadasamy
(Publisher)
090947 72502
Bhaskar Subramanian
(Lawyer)
091765 01878
Copies to:
1. Hon’ble President of India
2. Hon’ble Vice President of India.
3. Media / Press for publishing news.
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