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Journalism of Courage
Punjab’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government on Sunday ordered a complete ban on public display of weapons and songs glorifying violence. In a communication to the Director General of Police, Commissioners of Police, District Magistrates and Senior Superintendents of Police, the Punjab Home Department also directed a review of all firearm licences issued in the state so far within three months.
The Punjab government has been under Opposition pressure over “worsening” law and order. Songs celebrating the gun culture are very popular in Punjab, and concerns have been raised earlier too over their influence on society. Thus, the AAP government is not the first to initiate action against them. Here is a brief history of songs glorifying violence in Punjab, and the steps announced to curb them.
As songs like ‘Pakhiyan pakhiyan, gun vich panj goliyan tere panj veeran layi rakhiyan (I have five bullets in my gun for your five brothers)’ to ‘jithe hundi hai pabandi hathiyaar di ni, jatt othe fire karda (It is where weapons are banned that the Jatt fires proudly)’ show, in Punjab, gangsters and singers have often found common ground in their love for weapons, violence, and liquor. In fact, owning a weapon and then flaunting it on social media invokes a sense of pride and superiority, especially in the rural hinterlands of the state.
The gun and violence link to songs dates back to the mid-1990s. In 1996, noted Punjabi singer Dilshad Akhtar was shot, allegedly by a Punjab Police DSP for not singing a song of his choice at a marriage function.
In 2017, in the song ‘Gangland’, Mankirt Aulakh sang, “Asle UP ton jattan ne chak le aa (Jatts have picked weapons from UP). Highlighting gang rivalry, the song further said, “Raatin baaran baaran vaje tak hundi thaah thaah, navin bandekhaani kagzaan ch chara li aa (Firing takes place till midnight and new weapon to kill a person has been added in the licence).”
Similarly, Babbu Mann sang, “Mitran nu shauq hathyaraan da (We are fond of weapons)…”
Among the triggers behind the AAP government’s recent order is believed to be the murder of the immensely popular singer Shubhdeep Singh alias Sidhu Moosewala in May this year, followed by the killings of Shiv Sena leader leader Sudhir Suri and Dera Sacha Sauda follower Pardeep Singh, both in broad daylight.
However, Moosewala himself was among the singers blamed for glorifying violence, for which he was named in police complaints.
In his track ‘Outlaw’, he sang: “Assi goliyaan de naal mukne nahi..medalan wangu parche ne, aidde-aidde kaand kare, Parliament tak charche ne… (We aren’t the ones who will be finished with bullets, FIRs on us are like medals, our deeds are a matter of discussion in Parliament).” Amid the Covid outbreak in May 2020, Punjab Police personnel had landed in controversy after a video showing Moosewala firing shots with the AK-47 rifle of a policeman inside a shooting range in Barnala went viral.
In his track ‘G Wagon’, the lyrics were: “Jatt uss pind nu belong karda jithe banda maarke kasoor puchde…(Jatt belongs to a village where we kill a person and then ask what his fault was).”
On February 1, 2020, Moosewala along with Mankirt Aulakh was booked for allegedly singing and promoting the song ‘Pakhiyan, pakhiyan.. gun vich panj goliyaan‘.
After the FIR, Moosewala performed at a live show at Dirba in Sangrur on February 10, where he allegedly sang, “Hun dasso kihda kihda kanda kadna, jatt zamanat tey aaya hoya hai… (Now tell me who is to be eliminated, the Jatt is out on bail).”
But not just Moosewala
While Moosewala was popular, he was by no means the only Punjabi artiste caught flaunting weapons or glorifying them.
Punjabi singer Elly Mangat was booked in November 2019 by Ludhiana police for participating in alleged celebratory firing at a birthday party and putting the video on social media. The Moga police registered an FIR against Punjabi singer Sippy Gill in March 2020 for allegedly promoting violence and weapons in his track ‘Gundagardi’.
Before Mann, the government of Captain Amarinder Singh had issued orders over such songs. The Punjab and Haryana High Court, too, had made remarks against them.
In February 2020, then Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh had announced in the Vidhan Sabha that the “state government will not allow release of any movie/songs promoting gangsters and violence which may disturb hard-earned peace of Punjab.” The government had banned the movie ‘Shooter’, based on the life of gangster Sukha Kahlwan, and booked its makers.
Following HC directions, the Punjab government had also written to the Union Information Technology (IT) and Information and Broadcasting (I&B) ministries, requesting removal of such songs from YouTube and other social media platforms. The High Court order in July 2019 read, “….The Director General of Police in states Punjab, Haryana and UT Chandigarh, are directed to ensure that no songs are played glorifying the liquor, wine, drugs and violence in any song even in live shows. The District magistrates/SSPs/SPs of each district shall be personally responsible to ensure due compliance of the directions issued…”
This order was used as the basis for several FIRs against such singers.
The promotion of arts in Punjab comes under Punjab Kala Parishad (Punjab Arts Council), the state’s only constitutionally notified body that has eminent artists from all fields, However, the body has no power to initiate legal action.
The move to constitute a legal board or commission that can take legal action against objectionable content has been a non-starter. In 2018, Punjab’s then cultural affairs minister Navjot Singh Sidhu had announced to constitute a ‘Punjab Sabhyachar (culture) Commission’ to check “obscenity and vulgarity”, and the “glorification of drugs and violence” in Punjabi songs.
He had said that the “commission will also have powers to register FIRs against violators, monitor content served through social media”. However, this commission was never set up.
The council is currently headed by Padma Shri poet Dr Surjit Patar, who told The Indian Express, “What is needed is a ‘Lok Lehar’ (people’s movement) to spread awareness so that people themselves reject such artists and their creations. A few years ago, there were discussions on the Punjab Cultural Commission, which would have legal powers. However, the idea met with opposition because government control over singers or lyricists is quite impractical and questionable. It is impractical because songs can be recorded in other states too, if not Punjab. It is questionable because if you are stopping someone from singing or writing something, it is curtailing their right to freedom of expression. Youths following such singers are symptoms of a serious disease which needs cure. Youths are feeling hopeless and aimless. Our polluted politics is equally responsible for this menace.”
An advisor to the Punjab Police, who has served with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, told The Indian Express there was “massive issuance of arms licenses in the 10-year rule of Akali Dal in Punjab.” “Later when Amarinder Singh came to power, issuing of licences slowed down a bit,” said the advisor.
While he pointed out that there “cannot be a blanket ban on issuing arms licences since it is a right of the citizens of India”, he also said “a very small percentage of licenced weapons have been used to commit heinous crimes, as miscreants mostly use illegal weapons.”
A former Punjab Director General of Police, however, while wishing not to be identified, said crackdown on liberal issuance of arms was necessary. “The miscreants who have illegal weapons sometimes run out of ammunition. They then coerce legal arms licence holders into giving them their ammunition to commit crimes,” said the former DGP.
