Thiruvananthapuram: Controversies surround the song composed by popular Malayalam lyricist Sreekumaran Thampi about ‘Kerala,’ written at the request of the Kerala Sahitya Academi for the state government. The issue escalated after Sreekumaran Thampi posted on Facebook, expressing feeling insulted by Kerala Sahitya Academi Secretary CP Aboobacker. Sreekumaran Thampi’s criticism emerged just days after poet Balachandran Chullikkad accused the Kerala Sahitya Academi of mistreatment.
In the midst of the controversy, Sreekumaran Thampi garnered support from various quarters. Political Analyst Adv. A Jayasankar publicly backed Sreekumaran Thampi, commending his courage in criticizing both the Kerala state government and the Kerala Sahitya Academi.
Jayasankar humorously slammed Aboobacker in a Facebook post for insulting the song written by Sreekumaran Thampi.
The controversy began when Sreekumaran Thampi revealed that he felt insulted by Kerala Sahitya Academi Secretary CP Aboobacker and President K Satchidanandan, who had requested Sreekumaran Thampi to write a song about ‘Kerala’ for the Kerala government. However, despite sending the lyrics, Sreekumaran Thampi had not received any official communication regarding its acceptance or rejection.
A week later, Sreekumaran Thampi noticed an advertisement on TV channels from the Sahitya Academi, inviting submissions of songs on ‘Kerala.’ He inferred that his song had been rejected but received no formal notification, leaving him feeling insulted.
Sreekumaran Thampi, who has contributed over 3000 songs to the Malayalam industry, also mentioned in his Facebook post that he had never recommended anyone to the Kerala Sahitya Academi, and none of his books had been honoured by the Academi to date.
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