Kisan Anthem to Bella Ciao-Wapas Jao, singers and artists support farmers protest

Popular Punjab singers Diljit Dosanjh, Gippy Grewal and Jazzy B among others have come out in support of the farmers protest against the new farm laws. Singers have also composed new songs on the current protest, the latest being Kisan Anthem, which was sung by 10 popular Punjabi singers.

The song which is trending on YouTube was sung by artists with the likes of Manpreet Aulakh, Jas Bajwa, Nishwan Bhullar, Jordan Sandhu, Dilpreet, Dhillon, Faizalpuria, DJ Flow, Afsana Khan, Mr Barrar and Bobby Sandhu. Having massive social media following, the singers have voiced their support for the farmers with slogans like ‘No Farmer, No Food’ and asking the government to sort out farmer issues as ‘Farmers are our Backbone’.

Not to be left out, the Punjabi folk song writers have been coming out with new protest songs on a daily basis to support the farmers. They are also attracting singers and musicians from other regional languages too. Nityanand Jayaram, a freelance journalist based in Chennai, composed a song for Tamil and Punjabi audiences. He said the idea was to extend solidarity to the farmers’ struggle.

As such, Poojan Sahil released the Punjabi version of the popular Italian protest folk song Bella Ciao as Farm Laws Wapas Jao. The Italian protest folk song originated in the late 19^th century and is sung by workers in protest to the harsh working conditions in the paddy fields of North Italy. The Punjabi version goes something like… Asan nikale han, Chad sari fikran, gaande han ye zalim wapas jao jai, mitti de kan kan vichon hai aundi he hi gooni (we are out, have left fears away and are singing go back, go back…this voice is coming from every fragment of the soil).

Also Read: Rajnath Singh urges farmers to try new farm laws as “experiment”

Natasha Badhwar, the creative producer of music video Bella Ciao-Wapas Jao, said the song is an effort by artistes and activists to take the struggle of farmers protesting on the borders of Delhi to a wider audience. The video shows a montage of farmers protesting at Singhu border, which was shot by people’s campaign group, Karwan-e-Mohabbat.