The unsettling legacy of killed rapper Sidhu Moose Wala's protest music
It has been more than a month since rapper Sidhu Moose Wala was shot dead in the northern Indian state of Punjab. But he is still making headlines.In June, Moose Wala's last song SYL was removed from YouTube in India after the government lodged a legal complaint. The posthumously released song talks about decades-long dispute over sharing river water between Punjab and the neighbouring state of Haryana, while also touching upon some other controversial subjects like Sikh militancy.
Moose Wala was also deeply rooted to his home and village in a state where thousands are looking to immigrate to foreign shores in search of a better life."He was many things, but above all he was deeply connected with the ecology of his village," says Pritam Singh, professor of economics at Oxford Brookes University, who has followed Moose Wala's music closely.
"Moose Wala could've lived anywhere he wanted. But he chose his village, his parents and his people," Mr Happy says. "He not just held on to his village identity but also sought to elevate it, despite its complexities." Song after song, Moose Wala evoked the pull of village life, urging his listeners to embrace an agrarian lifestyle. In Bambiha Boley, he highlighted the beauty of traditional folk music; in Never Fold, he turned to stories of Robin Hood-like folk heroes who robbed the rich to help the poor.
In 2020, his song on India's contentious agricultural laws became an anthem for protesting farmers. The lyrics - "This is none other than the Punjab, which takes revenge with an open challenge" - were hailed for embodying the power of resistance, but critics said they were problematic and glorified violence.
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