NEW DELHI, India—On the directions of the Indian government, the online video sharing platform YouTube has started deleting songs sung by the Punjabi singers in support of protesting farmers. Earlier, the Indian government had pressurized Twitter to delete or withhold some pro-farmers accounts and tweets.
On February 6, YouTube brought down two pro-farmers songs titled “Ailaan” and “Asi Vaddange,” sung by Kanwar Grewal and Himmat Sandhu, respectively.
The duo songs were top-rated among struggling youth farmers. The deleted song “Ailaan” was viewed more than 13 million times, while the other deleted song also had views in millions.
Reacting to YouTube’s move of bringing down his song, Punjabi singer Kanwar Grewal has reiterated that only farmers will make decisions about accepting or not accepting these farm laws.
It is pertinent to note here that almost all the Punjabi singers have supported the farmers’ agitation against three unconstitutional farm laws since its initiation. All of them have made their contribution to this struggle by singing pro-farmers songs.
On February 5, the United Nations’ Human Rights Office had called upon the Indian authorities to protect farmers’ rights to assemble peacefully and express their protest both offline and online mode. However still, the Indian government is continuously crushing farmers’ rights.
#India: We call on the authorities and protesters to exercise maximum restraint in ongoing #FarmersProtests. The rights to peaceful assembly & expression should be protected both offline & online. It's crucial to find equitable solutions with due respect to #HumanRights for all.
— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) February 5, 2021
Ostensibly, the BJP led Indian government is not leaving any stone unturned to suppress agitating farmers and implement its agenda. However, still, it is facing a grand failure despite misusing state resources.
Meanwhile, it is learned that some other pro-farmers YouTube accounts have started uploading these deleted songs once again. Kanwar Grewal’s song “Ailaan” has been uploaded today by a YouTube account, “Best Beat Music”.
Similarly, Himmat Sandhu’s song “Asi Vaddange” has also been uploaded once again on YouTube.
Freedom of expression lol
They are still available