Over the years, the music industry has undergone dramatic cultural transformations due to the influence of global mega-stars. From Cardi-B celebrating womanhood and drawing eye-balls to hip-hop by virtue of her over-the-top persona, to BTS making K-pop a universally enjoyable genre, music, today, entails more than just a composition of notes and rhythms. In recent times, we have seen a revolution in music in the East as well, particularly in the south-asian country of India. Gone are the days when people (Hindus) offered their devotion to God by drowsily clapping their hands while their grandmothers sang along (quite unpleasantly!) to Bhajans. Today, some Hindus have given birth to something I like to call H-pop, or should I say, H-prop?
‘H-prop’, an acronym I coined for Hindutva Propaganda, can be used to describe the recent surge of the explicit, communal, and instigatory musical content being created by radical Hindus to fulfill their fantasies of making India a Hindu-rashtra. This musical genre is not only characterized by lyrics with unnerving and blatant shots at the perceived ‘enemies’ to Hindus but is also inundated with provoking visuals. Some would admit that describing the videos as ‘appalling’ would also be charitable.
Apart from the cult singers, singers like Lakshmi Dubey and Sanjay Faizabadi, the main patrons starring in these videos include ‘kisaans’, ‘jawaans’, angry Hindu Gods and Goddesses, and our Prime Minister as the cherry on top. The main musical band is dressed in the holy color of Saffron, which is stark and hard to miss against the (common) green background. Moreover, most of the scenes propagate violence and vigilantism against non-believers by including scenes of nukes in the name of holy war, jawaans mercilessly shooting at the ‘enemy’ and Godess Mahakali wearing a garland of skulls, implying obvious annhialation of the non-Hindus.
The visuals, however, do not do justice to the profanity that accompanies them. Lyrics are composed to further re-enforce or at this point, literally drill Hinduism into the minds of all those who listen to them in the most obscene manner possible. They often speak about the dispute between India and Pakistan, asperse and belittle the culture of Muslims, laud the construction of the Ram Mandir and strategically use the name of political leaders so as to give credibility to their motives. An example is “Topi vaala bhi sar jhuke Ram bolega” which indicates that every person wearing a skull cap shall bow their heads in devotion to Lord Ram – a gross attempt to incite religious conversion. Another example is, ‘Tel lagalo Dabur ka, naam mita do Babur ka’, which urges people to celebrate ONLY Indian and Hindu products and icons and condemn anything other than that. In this case, the lyrics voice the radical view of erasing Mughals from Indian history, using the name of Babur as an example. Some would suspect that recent cut in school syllabi seems to have been inspired by these very lyrics!
The fact that ‘H-pop’ has now become another major catalyst in bringing about the slow death of democracy is equally disturbing. Political leaders continue to invite radical singers like Lakshmi Dubey and Sanjay Faizabadi to perform at pre-electoral events to further their agenda. This activity has earned singers like them a place in mass ceremonial gatherings like weddings and made their performances something to be long anticipated. It is well known that music is a global language that has the ability to unite people through its enthralling beats and lyrics. Therefore, using it to create anything other than symphony and harmony is not only an injustice towards the art, but also towards its creator, the artist.