Kinnera artist Darshanam Mogulaiah, a 2022 recipient of the prestigious Padma Shri award, has threatened to return his award in protest against the BJP’s alleged move to use him for politics. The BJP has been miffed with the artist due to his unwavering support to Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and Achampet TRS legislator Guvvala Balaraju. “I will return the award if that is what they (BJP) want. They have unnecessarily dragged me into a controversy, and it has taken a toll on my health,” the artist told TNM.
According to Mogulaiah, a BJP leader met him at the Achampet court on Wednesday, May 18, and enquired if the state government had handed him Rs 1 crore and a house site in Hyderabad. The grant was announced by CM KCR in January this year, after Mogulaiah won the Padma Shri. “I informed the BJP leader that I was yet to receive the grant, and that TRS legislator Balaraju was working on it. But he asked how the CM could make such a delay and told me that he would fight on my behalf. I asked him not to be so aggressive and not to speak against KCR. Yet, he went ahead and made critical comments against the Chief Minister,” Mogulaiah said.
Fearing that the TRS-led state government would misinterpret the situation and feel that he betrayed their trust, Mogulaiah slammed the said BJP leader on phone, which was in turn videographed seemingly by TRS activists for their own political propaganda.
Mogulaiah now fears that the BJP leader’s move to speak on his behalf might deprive him of the Rs 1 crore and the house site promised to him by the government. “I come from an extremely poor family. Why have they made this an issue and caused me problems,” he asked.
With Mogulaiah publicly speaking out against the BJP, some leaders from the party have hit back at him stating that it was the Union government under the BJP that recognised him with the Padma Shri. Offended by this statement, Mogulaiah responded that if they wanted him to return the award, he would do so. While he was grateful for the Padma Shri recognition, he still thinks that it would not have been possible without KCR identifying his talent and giving him due recognition initially, he added.
Mogulaiah belongs to the Dakkali community, a sub-sect of Madigas, categorised as Scheduled Castes. One of the most backward communities living on the fringes of the society, Dakkalis usually depend on alms from other Madigas, earned by singing their praises. Traditionally, Dakkalis play the Kinnera — a string instrument made with a long bamboo neck and dry hollow pumpkins that work as resonators. The strings are traditionally made of animal nerves, but have now been replaced with metal.
In 2014, when the Telangana state had just formed, the TRS-led state government had acknowledged the contribution of Mogulaiah, who is the fifth generation artist from his family to play the Kinnera, an art form on the verge of extinction. Subsequently, he was recognised with the Manmadha Nama Ugadi Puraskar by the state government in 2015. Further, a lesson was introduced in the state’s Class 8 textbooks to spread awareness on the cultural contribution made by Mogulaiah and the Kinnera. Besides this, learning about his struggle to sustain himself, the government also provided him with a special pension of Rs 10,000 every month.