With Kerala in poll mode, politics is swirling around a Dalit rapper in his 30s, whose controversial arrest in a ganja case has only added to his rising popularity.
Days after Vedan was the star of a show at a Left Democratic Front (LDF) event in Palakkad marking the fourth anniversary of its government, a local BJP councillor filed a formal complaint against the rapper-songwriter, accusing him of “defaming” Prime Minister Narendra Modi and “promoting” caste-based division through his music.
The LDF’s celebration of Vedan was itself a contrast from his recent arrest on what were seen to be flimsy charges, with raids carried out in full camera glare to seize 9 grams of ganja from him and others. A leopard tooth pendant he wore led to another case against him.
On his release on bail, Vedan promised to “mend his habits”.
It was not the first time Vedan found himself in a controversy. In 2021, he was accused of sexual misconduct. In an apology posted on social media then, he had written: “I feel great self-contempt and terrible regret as I look back on the lapses in my conduct towards you, my women friends and partners who came to me in trust and friendship.”
At the Palakkad event, the crowd ignored the ministers and party leaders on the dais to cheer for Vedan. Hundreds swarmed the stage, clapping and singing along as he rapped in Malayalam: “We’ll stitch a palace out of sheer dreams / Where the minister and the king are both… us.”
As the surging mob caused damage to the venue, police had to resort to a lathicharge.
The complaint against Vedan, made by V S Minimol, a BJP Councillor at the Palakkad Municipality – marked to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the NIA – coincided with the charge by K P Sasikala, a leader of the Sangh-affiliated Hindu Aikyavedi, also in Palakkad, that society was being “humiliated” by Vedan’s “improperly dressed antics”. She also questioned the relevance of rap music to SC/STs.
What is believed to have earned the ire of the Hindutva right-wing is the Vedan song ‘Voice of the Voiceless’, where he sings: “In a land of counterfeit nationalists, where faith and caste are plagues / With no true leader, only burdens that taxes can’t erase / Half the nation lies in the hands of those who wield swords / But speak a word… and they’ll brand you anti-nationalist, a radical, unheard.”
The editor-in-chief of the Sangh’s Malayalam mouthpiece Kesari, N R Madhu, recently called Vedan a “misguided youth” who has become “a tool in the hands of jihadis” and was promoting “armed uprising”. It was wrong to see him as fighting caste oppression, Madhu said. “In the name of opposing caste oppression, he is creating rifts within society.”
In a recent interview to the Malayalam news channel Reporter, Madhu said Vedan was “being propped up by those with ulterior motives”, suggesting that they were “jihadis”. “He is being promoted because he sings about Syria and Palestine. He wrapped himself in the Palestine flag (at a show) and got support.”
Madhu has also spoken about Vedan’s writings on the Rohingya and about the LTTE. “He has written about Tigers (LTTE militants) roaming thirsty in Lanka. Doesn’t this mean that he is promoting armed uprising?” said Madhu in the interview.
Speaking to reporters Thursday, Vedan said Sasikala’s remarks against him were an attempt to portray him as “an extremist, separatist, or a troublemaker”, and that the disparaging remarks against him showed that what he was doing was having the desired effect.
On Sasikala’s comment that “rap has no connection with the SC/ST community”, Vedan said it was democracy and extreme Hindutva politics of the Sangh Parivar that had no link. Sasikala’s remarks reflected an attitude among people like her that SC/STs should not pursue anything different such as becoming an artiste, Vedan said.
“I don’t have the voice to sing classical songs – if I did, I would. I can only sing rap,” he told reporters in Kochi.
Born in Thrissur to a Sri Lankan Tamil migrant mother and a Dalit labourer father, Vedan, whose real name is Hiran Das Murali, has risen to popularity on the strength of his music that speaks of the marginalised. His lyrics, denouncing right-wing politics, derive inspiration from his mother’s refugee identity and turbulent life.
A senior CPI(M) minister, requesting anonymity, said Vedan’s support could be a boost for the party. “Take an average person in his 20s… why should he work for the CPI(M) or the Congress or the BJP in Kerala? We have nothing – neither leaders nor a convincing ideology to attract them. These kids are alienated, they feel their prospects are very weak. Many are those who could not go abroad. And they see a release, a voice, in Vedan.”
The RSS’s opposition to Vedan has also prompted the Left to try and co-opt him. Vedan writes and sings against “right-wing, divisive politics, Islamophobia and caste oppression”, a source close to him points out. “There is enough lashing out against Savarna politics.”
CPI(M) veteran P Jayarajan has criticised Sasikala’s remarks against Vedan as “caste abuse”, and demanded that a case be filed against her.
Vedan’s associates say: “His lyrics are about anger and dignity, not guns. But because he doesn’t fit any box – Left, Right, Dalit icon or Muslim sympathiser – they’re trying to corner him from all sides.”
(with PTI inputs)
