Tamil lyricist Vairamuthu, who was accused by multiple women of sexual harassment during the #MeToo movement, has now declared that he will be returning the ONV Literary Award.On Twitter, he shared a video and captioned the post, “I will return the award #ONVaward.” He explained the reason for the decision, saying he does not want to put the jury in an uncomfortable position and hence is choosing to return it. In the video, Vairamuthu said that he doesn't want to put the ONV Kurup trust in a spot. He said that this is the reason why he is declining the award. He also requested the Rs 3 lakh prize amount to be directed to the Kerala Chief Minister's Relief Fund.
Vairamuthu added that he will additionally contribute Rs 2 lakh to the Relief Fund.In 2018, Chinmayi named Vairamuthu in the #MeToo movement and accused him of sexual misconduct. 16 other women levelled sexual harassment allegations against Vairamuthu. After the award was announced, many netizens including Chinmayi Sripaada and Parvathy called out the jury for honouring a #MeToo accused.ONV Literary Award was established in 2017 in memory of renowned Malayalam poet and lyricist ONV Kurup. It is presented by the ONV Cultural Academy. Earlier the academy had said in a statement, “As per the request of the award committee, the ONV Cultural Academy has decided to subject the ONV Literature award to reconsideration.”Vairamuthu had rubbished the allegations on social media. He had said, “It has become fashionable to cast aspersions on those who are popular. In recent times, I have been shamed repeatedly. This is one of them. I dismiss anything other than the truth. The truth will win.”