In all his years of being in the public eye, Ilayaraaja has hardly ever been described as a 'Dalit' from Tamil Nadu. But that changed when he was announced as a Rajya Sabha MP nominee last evening, triggering his mostly Tamil fanbase and a section of other netizens. To be clear, Dalit isn't a slur or an insult; it is just refers to anyone belonging to the Indian scheduled caste, that has historically been oppressed/ suppressed. 

However given how casteism continues to plague even modern day India, there is a stark difference of opinion on whether the mention of one's identity as a Dalit is required, especially when they have other bagde-of-honours to showcase.

First time, seeing him referred to as a Dalit.

Why drag a caste everytime?

He is a great musician.
PM also never talked about him bieng a dalit.

Learn from your leader.

— Mahesh Joshi (@MaheshJ95622388) July 6, 2022

This is the unwritten rule that as long as it is in the scheduled caste category the scheduled caste is called dalit whether it is social liberation national party and Dravidian party.

— A.SRIDHAR (@ASRIDHAR_DEV) July 7, 2022

Both discrimination and recognition based on caste, creed, religion or place of birth is unconstitutional. Isn’t it? Then how does this government allowed to overlook rules?

— Archana (@Archu70) July 6, 2022

Dalit, the tag whether you like it or not, will be reminded by everyone. " #ilaiyaraaja 's nomination will ensure adequate representation of Dalits"!🙄
Btw, he never spoke for Dalits & behaves like a sanatani is a topic for another day! pic.twitter.com/VCWjbbzFgq

— Ravi Chandar (@ravikchandar) July 6, 2022

Once the greatest Musician ever produced in #India has become jus a #Dalit 🙄#Ilayaraaja

— jaibheem ✊ (@bornTelanganite) July 6, 2022

I mean...

When @sachin_rt and @GautamGambhir became MP, they were cricketers...@ilaiyaraaja is a Dalit, when he become MP...

That's right Mr.@narendramodi...?

— ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕣𝕒ℍ𝕒𝕤𝕒𝕟 𝕊𝕖𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕕𝕦𝕣𝕒𝕚 (@chandrahasan78) July 6, 2022

Mentioning Dalit word if hurting someone nd they are not proud of their identity then my apologies... but I'm personally proud of his achievements, I think revealing his identity will set an example that, dalits are not behind anyone.
Targeting "Mishra" won't solve the problem😁

— अवनीश मिश्रा(Avanish Mishra)🇮🇳 (@iamavim) July 7, 2022

This is how it always ends.

A deserving award is now a quid-pro-quo.

"He is a great artist. But we know he will get something in return when he praised Modi."

Ilayaraaja may be a music genius but he is still a useful Dalit! And he was ready for ithttps://t.co/j1DwjmiRv6

— K Malmarugan/கோ மால்மருகன் |I stand with 🇺🇦 (@Kodungolan737) July 7, 2022