Is it right to call Ilaiyarajaa a Dalit on caste grounds?

Music composer Ilayaraja's nomination as a member of the rajya sabha has sparked controversy by referring to him as a Dalit. It has been criticized on social media. Not only Ilaiyaraaja but also the former sportswoman P.T. Usha, popular telugu story writer and director Vijayendra prasad and social activist Virendra Hegde from karnataka are also selected as nominated members.

A related notification said, "The Modi government continues to ensure that various underrepresented groups get adequate representation. Four people, including a woman, a Dalit and a member of the minority Jain community, have been appointed as nominated MPs." This press release was not released through the government's regular media outlets. The announcement, which was sent to delhi journalists, went viral on social media.

Many people are condemning the mention of ilayaraja as a Dalit. In a post published by Arvind Raja, he said, "It was ilayaraja who filed a case against Dr. KA Gunaseran for identifying himself as a Dalit and writing in the Dalit Murasu series. But today, he is happy when the bjp imposes the same identity on him."

In a post published by Dr. Senthilkumar, he said, "Even though the music world is famous, what they want to identify is 'Dalit' Ilayaraja."

In a post published by tamil poet Karur, he said, "For us, musician ilayaraja, Matros ilayaraja, he is a Dalit, and Cholia Mudichitta."

"This appointment is suitable for Ilaiyaraja's musical wisdom. No alternative is considered. But has he accepted himself as a Dalit? Will the king agree to give him appointment on the basis of Dalit representation?" Manikandan Rajendran's twitter post says.

"They mention Dalit. But does ilayaraja accept that term? No one sees ilayaraja with the tag of Dalit. There is a political motive behind this. The bjp is looking at what they can gain from it. They are looking to buy votes with that. "Narrow-minded politics. Nominated mp post is not a big deal for ilayaraja," says Ravikumar, a Member of Parliament.

Analyst stalin Rajangam says the question is why they are publishing a document that ilayaraja is a Dalit. "Laiyaraja was admired and recognized by people as a music artiste. But now it is known that he is being given the nomination mp post because of his Dalit identity. But the question is, why should it be documented," he says. "There is no shame in the identity of Dalit. But if the downtrodden are really concerned about progress, they should implement reservation for the downtrodden in the Rajya Sabha. They say we are doing what the congress is not doing, this is what we need to do," says Ravikumar.