YouTube has taken down popular Punjabi singer Kanwar Grewal’s song 'Rihaee', which calls for the release of Sikh prisoners.
"Content Unavailable. This content is not available on this country domain due to a legal complaint from the government," the social media platform said.
The development comes days after YouTube pulled down slain Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala's song 'SYL', which was released posthumously, following a similar complaint by the government. Reacting to the development, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal asked the Centre to revoke the "ban" Grewal's song.
Badal said the song, 'Rihaee', reflects sentiments of the community, which is perturbed over the continuous incarceration of Sikhs despite the completion of their jail term.
Grewal has done nothing more than use poetry to highlight this grievance besides demanding that history books should not be rewritten, Badal said in a statement. "This does not call for a ban under any circumstances," he added.
Asking the Centre to reconsider its decision, Badal said "such bans have the capacity to create a wrong impression about India". "We cannot be seen to be suppressing the freedom of speech which is enshrined in our constitution," he said. He said India is known as the world’s largest democracy that respects pluralism. "The Union government should ensure the country stays this way. Democracies which do not respect freedom of speech and expression cannot remain sustainable for long," he said.
Badal, who is also an MP, said he will take up this issue in the forthcoming Parliament session also. "The ban on the 'Rihaee' song comes soon after the ban on the posthumous song 'SYL' sung by renowned artist, Sidhu Moosewala, which also reflected the aspirations of Punjabis who do not want their water to be diverted to Haryana through the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal," he said.
Badal said the SAD will also ask the Centre to disclose the specific complaint in both cases and who had registered these. "We will also demand a broader discussion on this issue to ensure corrective steps can be taken and this trend is stopped," he added.
[With Inputs from PTI]
