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YouTube takes down Punjabi singer’s song seeking release of Sikh prisoners
YouTube has taken down Punjabi singer Kanwar Grewal’s song “Rihai”, which calls for the release of Sikh “political prisoners”, following a “legal complaint” by the Indian government
YouTube has taken down Punjabi singer Kanwar Grewal’s song “Rihai”, which calls for the release of Sikh “political prisoners”, following a “legal complaint” by the Indian government.
The development comes days after YouTube pulled down slain Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala’s song “SYL”, which was released posthumously, following a similar complaint by the Centre.
Released on Grewal’s official YouTube channel on July 2, “Rihai” garnered nearly 7 lakh views before it was removed from the video-sharing platform in the country. “This content is not available on this country domain due to a legal complaint from the government,” reads a message on the song link. However, the video is still available on some other YouTube channels.
Grewal, during the yearlong farmers’ agitation that ended late last year, had released a number of songs against the now repealed agricultural laws while criticising the central government. The tagline of his latest song is “Asi bandhi Singhan di rihai mang rahe aa (we are demanding the release of Sikh prisoners)”, while the lyrics allege their prolonged incarceration.
Even Moose Wala’s song, apart from highlighting the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal dispute with the neighbouring Haryana, called for the release of Sikh prisoners. Released on June 23, it was pulled down by YouTube within three days.
SAD condemns “ban”
Reacting to the development, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal, whose party contested the Sangrur Lok Sabha bypoll on the sole promise of pushing the release of Sikh prisoners, asked the Centre to revoke the “ban” on Grewal’s song.
Sukhbir, who is also a Lok Sabha member, said the song “Rihai” reflects sentiments of the community, which is perturbed over the continuous incarceration of Sikhs despite the completion of their jail term.
“Such bans create false impression about India among the nations. We cannot be seen to be suppressing the freedom of speech which is enshrined in our Constitution. India is known as the world’s largest democracy which respects pluralism,” said Sukhbir while adding that he would take up the issue in the Parliament’s forthcoming monsoon session.
Also raising the issue of the ban on the “SYL” song, the MP asked the Centre to disclose the specific complaints in both cases and who had registered them. “We will also demand a broader discussion on this issue to ensure corrective steps can be taken and this trend is stopped,” he said.
(with inputs from Chandigarh)
