Maestro Ilayaraja has made all music lovers, especially his fans, proud by winning Padma Vibhushan. However, nobody expected that his caste would be mentioned by some commentators (and an English-language daily) in politicizing the honour.

'Dalit outreach with Illaiyaraja's Padma', said a daily today on its front page! This has outraged many, who are saying that it's wrong to mention the Maestro's caste identity when his achievement should be celebrated in the right spirit.

"Alleging that Illaiyaraja got the Padma Vibhushan because he is a Dalit is really sad, shows a poor quality of mind," said senior journalist Sunil Jain.

On his part, the Maestro has said that the award to him shows that Prime Minister Narendra Modi "respects Tamil people a lot".