The bid to silence TM Krishna reflects how ‘unfree’ India has become - Trolls might be expected to attack someone who speaks against Hindutva. But did Airports Authority of India have to listen?

scroll.in - 16 November 2018

The bid by trolls to silence TM Krishna reflects how ‘unfree’ India has become
Trolls might be expected to attack someone who speaks against Hindutva. But did Airports Authority of India have to listen?

Rohan Venkataramakrishnan

Cricket and music have in the past been held hostage to international politics, with nationalist Indian political parties and their rabid fans insisting that India should not play host to anything connected to Pakistan – even if the people being invited from across the border have nothing to do with their government. Emboldened by the success of these tactics, right-wing trolls are now attacking even Indian performers for espousing opinions that they disagree with. The most recent scalp is that of celebrated Carnatic musician TM Krishna.

A concert that had been scheduled for this weekend in New Delhi was postponed by its sponsor, the Airports Authority of India, because of “some exigencies of work”. Until just a few days before, the AAI, which organised the concert along with musical society SPIC-MACAY, had been promoting the event. But doing so brought it much trolling from right-wingers who insisted that Krishna is an “urban naxal” – a mostly meaningless term used by the Right to describe those who question Hindutva – as well as “anti-India” and a “converted bigot” who sang about Jesus and Allah.

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https://scroll.in/article/902303/the-daily-fix-the-bid-by-trolls-to-silence-tm-krishna-reflects-how-unfree-india-has-become