Historicizing and preserving the present: The role of music during the Farmers’ Protest

ABSTRACT

With the passing of three farm bills by the Parliament of India in September 2020, farmers and laborers from several different states marched to Delhi. The state used violence to dissuade protestors from entering the capital as government-sponsored media downplayed the situation. However, Punjabi artists came out strongly in support of the Farmers’ Protest by releasing dozens of songs of revolution. This article focuses on five songs which preserve the movement and highlight broader topics surrounding the protest including: the question of violence, the role of government-sponsored media censoring details, Sikh sovereignty, and the ongoing battle between Punjab and Delhi.

KEYWORDS:

• Punjabi artists
• Government-sponsored media
• Sikh sovereignty
• Nihangs
• Nishan Sahib
• Punjab

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 In the early 1900s, “Hindu” or “Hindoo” is referred to all South Asians rather than practitioners of Hinduism. However, majority of South Asian immigrants that are referred to as Hindus in this time period were actually Sikhs.

2 The lines “Thank you for spraying us with water, it was an act of kindness since we were looking to shower anyways. And the barricades placed to block the path (to Delhi) were used to make roti” come towards the end in the actual song but were intentionally shifted to the beginning to allow for a chronological narrative.