Video-sharing platform YouTube has taken down two Punjabi songs about the farmers’ protest, The Wire reported on Monday.
YouTube’s headquarters in California informed the producer of one of the songs that they had received a legal complaint from the Indian government, saying that they violated certain policies and rules.
The songs taken down by the video-sharing platform are called Ailaan (proclamation) and Asi vadangey (We will break you). Ailaan, by singer Kanwal Grewal, had millions of views on YouTube. Grewal has also been an active participant in the farmers’ protest.
Grewal’s song, which is critical of the farm laws, sought to deliver the message that decisions about crops will be made by the farmers. The second song by Himmat Sandhu is about farmers opposing the takeover of their lands. It also speaks about the government’s alleged insensitivity towards farmers and warns it not to enter their fields, or it would be butchered, according to The Tribune.
“If there was any problem with our songs, or if we promoted enmity and aggression, YouTube wouldn’t have released our song on their platform in the first place,” music producer Harjinder Laddi told The Wire. “The songs have been running since September and were taken down only now.”
Meanwhile, Grewal said that taking down his song will not reduce its appeal. “The song has been banned but people still hum it,” he was quoted as saying by The Wire. “The slogans are still painted on their [the farmers’] tractors and trolleys.
Also read: Farm laws: Centre asks Twitter to block 1,178 accounts for spreading misinformation, say reports
A YouTube spokesperson told the website that the company complies with “valid legal requests from authorities wherever possible” and quickly acts to remove the content in question.
Farmer leaders criticised the move. Bharatiya Kisa Ekta Ugrahan Secretary Shingara Singh Mann told The Tribune that the government can remove the songs from YouTube but cannot erase them from people’s hearts.
There has been a clampdown on the farmers’ protest in the aftermath of the violence during the Republic Day tractor rally. Earlier this month, the Centre had directed Twitter to block nearly 1,200 accounts with suspected links to Khalistan sympathisers or Pakistan. Before that, it had asked for the removal of 250 accounts and tweets using the “ModiPlanningFarmerGenocide” hashtag.
Protest sites near Delhi have also been heavily barricaded, with nails dug into the roads. More than 100 people have been arrested in connection with the violence and several are reportedly missing. The crackdown on the peaceful agitation has triggered international outrage.
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