Expressing anguish over the Union government’s deployment of forces and the lockdown of communication lines following the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, vocalist T.M. Krishna on Sunday said it was sad to see the use of force to shut people out.
Answering a question following his talk on ‘Beyond Caste’ on the concluding day of the two-day centenary of Communist Party of India leader B.V. Kakkilaya, Mr. Krishna said that it was surprising to see a consistent homogeneous reaction of Kashmiri residents following abrogation of Article 370. The Centre has shut people out by moving in a good number of security forces.
To another question about his speech being contradictory to his concerts, Mr. Krishna said, “In my conversation (with the audience), I do not discard Tyagaraja keertana, but create a voice that challenges what is already there and make people uncomfortable,” and added that he believed in taking discomfort in a positive sense.
Writer and activist Noor Zaheer spoke on ‘Beyond Gender’. Later, Mr. Krishna rendered a concert accompanied by Akkarai Subhalakshmi on the violin and Jayachandra Rao K.U. on the mridangam.
Earlier, senior Communist Party of India leader Siddanagouda Patil spoke on ‘B.V. Kakkilaya: From Malabar to Karnataka Assembly’.
This was followed by a discussion on ‘Land reforms in Karnataka: Past, present and future’ in which Muzaffar Assadi, Professor, Political Science, University of Mysore, and CPI National Council Member P.V. Lokesh took part.
