Haryana Police ban on songs promoting violence sparks controversy

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The Haryana Police’s action against songs sung by local singers allegedly promoting violence and gun culture has snowballed into a controversy.

Several artists from the music industry have accused the police of “picking and choosing” to target a few singers. The issue also resonated in the State Assembly during the Budget session, with legislators seeking a lenient view of the matter.

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About 10 songs have been taken down from various social media platforms by the Haryana Police over the past fortnight, and at least two concerts, including one in Gurugram, halted midway. Six of the 10 banned songs were sung by Masoom Sharma, a prominent Haryanvi singer.

The police action has also led to allegations and counter-allegations between singers. Mr. Sharma, while not naming anyone, alluded to Gajender Phogat, a rival artiste and the Officer on Special Duty (Publicity) to the Haryana Chief Minister, for conspiring against him. Mr. Phogat, however, has denied the allegations.

Appearing on different platforms, Mr. Sharma said there were hundreds of songs promoting violence, but the police had banned only 10 songs, with six of them sung by him, hinting at a conspiracy.

He also questioned the rationale behind banning a few songs of Haryanvi singers in the age of Internet, when youth had access to songs by Punjabi singers, and Bollywood films promoted violence and gun culture. “Before I entered the Haryana music industry in 2009, youth mostly listened to songs by Punjabi singers. We took the Haryana music industry to new heights, but now this action of the police will not just harm my career and those of other singers, but the entire industry,” Mr. Sharma said. The singer is credited with several popular numbers, including ‘Ek khtola jail ke bhitar’, ’Tuition badmashi kaa’ and ‘Bhagatt aadmi’.

Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Crime, Mamta Singh, told The Hindu over phone that the action was initiated in the wake of a Punjab and Haryana High Court order, and the Haryana government’s direction against songs “promoting anti-social behaviour”.

Ms. Singh denied allegations of “picking and choosing”, stating the songs had been taken down on the recommendation of the district social media monitoring cells, which went through the lyrics of songs and analysed every single word. She said that Haryanvi songs were highly popular among local youth, that they were being identified and banned, and all Superintendents of the Police had been delegated the power to take action.

“In some cases, there have been crime incidents referred to in songs such as ‘Bhari court m goli marage’. Such songs show little respect for the institutions and cause direct provocation,” Ms. Singh said. She said the police could also recommend banning Punjabi songs popular among Haryanvi youth to the authorities concerned, if there was a need to do so.

Coming out in support of Mr. Sharma, social media content creator Rakhi Lohchab demanded that the police also initiate action against “vulgar” and “double meaning” songs, and “not just songs about violence and guns”. In a video posted on her Instagram account, which has over six lakh followers, Ms. Lohchab said the police should not stop at deleting a few songs, but act in an unbiased manner to take down all songs glorifying violence.

Raising the issue in the Haryana Assembly, Congress’ Shahdara MLA Ramkaran Kala demanded a statement from Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on the “excess” committed against three singers — Masoom Sharma, Narendra Bhagana, and Ankit Baliyan — by deleting their songs, and a possible conflict between the singers.

Social Justice Minister Krishan Kumar said these singers had “done a lot for the pride of Haryana”, and asked the Chief Minister to condone their previous mistakes and take a sympathetic view. In his reply, Jails Minister Arvind Sharma said the government would not allow harm to anyone’s reputation.