Chain Reaction

Bant Singh’s minor daughter was raped by men from the higher caste in 2000,whom he dared to take to court. The trial culminated in life sentences for three of the culprits in 2004,but with this trial Bant Singh had taken on more than just those who harmed his daughter. In 2006,a bunch of men from the higher caste assaulted Singh with iron rods and he was left for dead,and missing an arm and a leg in the attack. Bant Singh today works as an activist fighting for the rights of Dalit farmers in his village. He also sings songs of protest,fighting for the rights of oppressed Dalit farmers. “Bant Singh is far from being a victim. He is an open-hearted person and when we met him,we saw how strong he was,” says Bharadwaj.

In an attempt to showcase the legendary Dalit icon’s songs of rebellion,inter-caste violence and equality,this group hopes to make music and a movie to draw attention to his cause. To appeal to the urban Facebooking generation The Bant Singh Project,as it is called,uses world music genres such as dancehall,dubstep,reggae and poetry. “We wanted to breach the divide between the rural class and the urban class. There is a lot of underground electronic music that is also politically relevant around the world. We wanted to do the same here,but do it in a bi-lingual mode,” says Dalmia,29,of the group Delhi Sultanate,a dancehall and hip hop singer and performance poet.

While there are other causes waiting for a voice in the country,the group says they zeroed in on Singh because of the lack of a victim narrative in his performances. “He was a singer before he became an activist. Besides,the case of caste conflict in Sikhism is something not many people are aware of. We have been studying similar movements in Jamaica that uses music as a medium to address it,” says Bharadwaj.

Funded by the Max Mueller Bhawan in Delhi and the Babu Jagjivan Ram foundation,and “some of our own money” this eclectic group has been to Punjab twice to meet and record with Bant Singh. The project will include about five songs,besides the film. While Dalmia and Bharadwaj had heard about Singh,McGuinness who is presently in Berlin,says it was Singh’s fiery personality which clinched matters. “Delhi Sultanate and I met in January,2009. We clicked because we both wanted to hit the road in India to seek unique musical traditions and search for new artists. Singh is a tough guy with an unique voice,” says the live multimedia artist.

The songs and the film will be showcased at the Max Mueller Bhawan in Delhi on September 25. “The music and the film will be available for free downloads from our site. “We’re not doing this to become rich. For me the amazing Punjabi food at his house was enough. The digital distribution will be free under creative commons license,” says McGuinness. With over 600 odd members on their Facebook page,looks like Bant Singh has already got himself an audience.