Intro: An analysis of the new phenomena of online, hate-filled Hindutva pop
By Megha Bajaj
Music is one of the purest forms of art, potentially healing, inspiring, and revitalizing the human being. However, surprisingly, in today’s era, music is being used as a tool to spread hatred and promote animosity among religious communities. Spreading hatred and sowing the seeds of antipathy through music is an ongoing trend on the Internet.
Indeed, a certain Right-wing party’s entry in the Indian secular and democratic system has significantly increased the popularity of ‘Hindutvaadi’, or Hindutva pop music, in our society. In this exclusive DFRAC report, we will provide an in-depth analysis of this new tool of online hate politics.
In this report, we will cover the following points:
- Hindutva pop music
- The pattern of this music
- Singers who gained fame through Hindutva Pop
- Weaponizing music to target other communities
- Nationalistic music and songs viewed by youngsters
- How pop music can trigger communal clashes and violence
- Atmosphere of religious polarisation
Hindutva pop music is a growing trend on social media, especially YouTube. It is based on Hindutva, an ideology that finds Hinduism superior to the rest of the world. This is a peculiar genre of music that has been found to escalate anti-sentiments, and promote bloodshed, hate and violence in society. It has come on the scene under the reign of the RSS-BJP. It’s an amalgamation of religion and politics, and can successfully generates feelings of prejudice and conservatism among citizens.
The music is also known as ‘saffron pop’. Its essential components are poorly-matched lyrics filled loaded with hate, and provocative remarks; plus, repetitive rock-beats, and words such as gaddaron (traitors) and kaat doh (cut down)This genre of songs have become a ubiquitous trend in public spaces, across all Hindu festivals these days.
In today’s scenario, several singers have gained popularity through this new tool. Most of them belong to the middle class and come from rural backgrounds.
Laxmi Dubey
Laxmi Dubey is a staunch follower of Hinduvta and is a YouTube sensation . Her songs have received millions of views on YouTube and are capable of injecting fear into other communities. According to her bio, the ultimate goal of her life is to serve Hindutva and propagate its ideology among youngsters. She has more than 3,71,000 subscribers on her official YouTube channel .
Her songs, ‘Har Ghar Bhagwa Chhayega 2, Har Ghar Bhagwa Chayega 3 and ‘Bhagwa Lekar Aaye hai’ are highly acclaimed on the Internet. Clearly, the lyrics of her songs signal her intention to attack other communities and dissenters.
She has more than 3.7 million followers on her channel. With this number of followers, her account has gained a huge number of views on her videos and songs. We analyzed that her channel received around 16 million views over the period of December, 2021 to May, 2022.
Upon further investigation, we discovered that her top-viewed videos resonated with the topic of Har Ghar Bhagwa Chayega. She uploaded four videos, over a period of time, on the topic of Har Ghar Bhagwa Chayega, and received 17.7 million views. With these peculiar videos, she has earned a pretty decent amount. Besides, her earnings should be in the range of $4.4000–35.3,000 on the most-viewed videos.
Ved Vyas
Ved Vyas is another Hindutva icon in the contemporary music scene in India. His song ‘Jag Uthe Hai Soye Hindu’, released two years ago, has received more than 1 million views on YouTube.
The song, ‘Pakistan Nahi Hoga’, evokes implied feelings of extremism among Hindus across the country. ‘Hindu Jagane Aaya Hu’ has remained one of the most celebrated songs of his career, with more than 10 million views on YouTube.
Due to his popularity as a Hindutva singer, he has received death threats from a Pakistani terrorist organization, on his statements against Kashmir and Pakistan on social media. According to media reports by Dainik Bhaskar, he has twice faced threats.
In first report, it was stated that a spokesperson of Tehreek-e-Taliban, wrote in a threatening message, that he is issuing hate statements against Kashmir and Pakistan on social media, with the words, “We can see you.”
The second report reveals: “Ved Vyas, city president of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, has once again received threats from Pakistan. For the second consecutive day, there have been messages emanating from Pakistan that have threatened to kill him. Such messages have been sent to him for two consecutive days, in which the slogan of ‘Khalistan Zindabad’ has also been written. Along with this, it is written that ‘you are free do your politics but don’t bring Pakistan and Kashmir in your discourse’.
Kavi Singh
Kavi Singh entered the music industry by promoting Hindu-Muslim brotherhood, but, gradually, changed the theme of her music. She has 1 million subscribers on her official YouTube channel. As per the description of her channel, it’s motive is to unite India and cover its length and breadth. Most of her songs claim that ancient Hindu temples were allegedly demolished by Muslim rulers to build mosques.
Investigation of her channel reveals that it has had a huge viewership, with over 198 million views, since its beginning on March 9, 2019. Dhara 370 is the most popular song, according to her channel. The word gaddaron is frequently used. Ab gaddaron ki khair nahi and gaddaron ki ankhon mein paani hai are the most repetitive phrases in this song. Her earnings range between $17k to $135K.
Sandeep Chaturvedi
Another popular singer in the Hindutva pop scene is Sandeep Chaturvedi. He has over 4,000 subscribers on his official YouTube channel. He started his career as a devotional singer, but established himself as a saffron singer. His lyrics promote anti-Muslim content. Words such as Mandir tor masjid and Gyanvapi are frequently used in his songs.
Hindutva pop singers are using music as a weapon to target other communities, especially the minorities. Hate imagery (sticks and swords) and themes such as the demolition of Babri Masjid, gyanvapi, Hindu suffering in ancient times, have been deployed. The anti-Muslim content in these hate songs violate several laws under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The collages below demonstrate how avidly these pop songs are circulated on social media platforms.
Songs of Ved Vyas
Kavi Singh’s Song Dhara 370
Laxmi Dubey’s Har Ghar Bhagwa Chayega
Undoubtedly, such lyrics has the capability of impacting minds of the youth. Some youngsters feel a sudden rush of energy that might spark aggression and indignation. Ultimately, it helps in developing a fanatical attitude towards other communities. Here is a collage showing the most popular songs:
Incendiary and provocative lyrics embedded in these songs are like adding fuel to the fire. These songs are usually played during religious and political celebrations, and can trigger communal clashes and violence . According to media reports, such songs have repeatedly caused violence during Hindu festivals like Hanuman Jayanti and Ram Navami.
Jagran, in its website, published a report on March 31, 2023, with the headline, Ram Navami Festivites Marred With Clashes in Delhi, Gujarat, Bengal; Deaths in MP, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. The report said: “Several incidents of stone pelting on Ram Navami processions and altercations over miscreants playing loud music outside mosques were reported.”
NDTV published a news report on April 3, 2023, with the headline, BJP MLA Injured as Clashes Erupt again during Ram Navami Rally in Bengal. In this report, NDTV disclosed: “The Ram Navami procession played loud music, while the DJ and some people carried swords in front of a mosque, police sources told NDTV, adding the rally started late and beyond the permitted time.”
Since the arrival of this genre of pop music, the social atmosphere has been vititated by tension and chaos. The possibility of bloodshed and violence has increased. This is creating polarization among communities.
There are many ways to spread hate, but using music as a tool of hate speech on online platforms is a new phenomena. This report is a brief analysis of the Hindutva pop scene, and its influence on Indian society, while exploring the online popularity of some well-known singers who are promoting hatred by disguising themselves as religious performers.
(Megha Bajaj is Sub-Editor, Digital Forensics, Research and Analytics Centre (DFRAC), New Delhi, a media organisation which specializes in fact-checking).