I Protest

Last updated
"I Protest"
Song by MC Kash
Language English
ReleasedSeptember 2010 (2010-09)
Genre Hip hop music
Songwriter(s) MC Kash

"I Protest" is a rap song by a Kashmiri singer MC Kash, that he sang in 2010. The song that is about the 2010 Kashmir Uprising and Human rights abuses in Kashmir and failures by Kashmiri politicians including the separatists. [1] [2] [3] It became an immediate hit in the valley and outside. [4] The song was sung during protests. [5] The studio where the song was recorded was raided by the local police after the song was released [6] and the staff was questioned about involvement of any separatist leader. Kash, who was emotionally disturbed by the deaths of youth, including his friend, in the unrest, wrote the song. According to Kash, he wrote this in English to spread awareness about the situation in Kashmir. [7] Kash faced hard time in recording his songs after this song was released as most of the studios denied facilitating him [6] and he felt considerable pressure to stop raising such issues in his songs after people close to him showed concern about his security. [8]

Contents

Background

2010 Kashmir unrest was a series of violent clashes in Jammu and Kashmir between the state and the locals, who took to streets protesting against the killing of three locals in the state. 110 people were killed in protests by the Indian forces, during this protest. [7]

Composition

The lyrics to the song are graphic. [6] The song's video begin with news clippings about the protests during the 2010 protest. [9] Kash challenges the Indian administration in the song by saying, "Tales from the dark side of a murderous regime, an endless occupation of our land an' our dreams", which is considered sedition according to Indian law. [7] He also criticizes the local media of not fully covering the human right violations in the region by saying "sponsored media who hide this genocide". [3] The song ends with the names of those 65 people who died during the protests in 2010, up until September. [7]

Influence

The song made Kash a popular among the people of the valley [10] and it became a protest anthem for the Kashmiris who were protesting against the state. [5] Kashmiri youth express their protest against the Indian forces, by displaying "I Protest" banners in blogs, social networking sites, etc. [11] Those who didn't come out of their homes usually also put "I Protest" as their status on social networking sites. [2] Groups by the name of "I Protest" were also started on Facebook that was updated with the deeds of Indian security forces against the civilians by posting stories, pictures and videos. [12] Kash influenced many other Kashmiri youngsters to express their feelings through the art of singing. [7] A verse from this song (I Protest, Until My Freedom Has Come) became the title of the book Until My Freedom Has Come, a collection of essays on Kashmir, edited by Sanjay Kak. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Syed Ali Shah Geelani</span> Kashmiri-Freedom Fighter/ national leader (1929–2021)

Syed Ali Shah Geelani was an Islamist, Pro-Pakistan Kashmiri-separatist leader in the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, regarded as the father of the Kashmiri jihad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sanjay Kak</span>

Sanjay Kak is an Indian author, activist and self-taught film-maker. He is known for his documentaries about environmental activism and resistance politics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir</span> Ongoing separatist militancy in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir

The insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, also known as the Kashmir insurgency, is an ongoing separatist militant insurgency against the Indian administration in Jammu and Kashmir, a territory constituting the southwestern portion of the larger geographical region of Kashmir, which has been the subject of a territorial dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kashmir conflict</span> Territorial conflict in South Asia

The Kashmir conflict is a territorial conflict over the Kashmir region, primarily between India and Pakistan, and also between China and India in the northeastern portion of the region. The conflict started after the partition of India in 1947 as both India and Pakistan claimed the entirety of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. It is a dispute over the region that escalated into three wars between India and Pakistan and several other armed skirmishes. India controls approximately 55% of the land area of the region that includes Jammu, the Kashmir Valley, most of Ladakh, the Siachen Glacier, and 70% of its population; Pakistan controls approximately 30% of the land area that includes Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan; and China controls the remaining 15% of the land area that includes the Aksai Chin region, the mostly uninhabited Trans-Karakoram Tract, and part of the Demchok sector.

Kak is a Kashmiri Pandit surname and clan originating in the Kashmir Valley of Jammu and Kashmir, India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yasin Malik</span> Kashmiri separatist leader (born 1966)

Yasin Malik is a Kashmiri separatist leader and former militant who advocates the separation of Kashmir from both India and Pakistan. He is the Chairman of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, which originally spearheaded armed militancy in the Kashmir Valley. Malik renounced violence in 1994 and adopted peaceful methods to come to a settlement of the Kashmir conflict. In May 2022, Malik pleaded guilty to charges of criminal conspiracy and waging war against the state, and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Asiya Andrabi is a Kashmiri separatist and founding leader of Dukhtaran-e-Millat. This group is part of the separatist organisation All Parties Hurriyat Conference in the Kashmir valley. Government of India has declared it as a "banned organization". The organisation claims that it aims for the freedom of Kashmir from India.

On 26 May 2008, the government of India and the state Government of Jammu and Kashmir reached an agreement to transfer 99 acres (0.40 km2) of forest land to the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) in the main Kashmir Valley to set up temporary shelters and facilities for Hindu pilgrims to Amarnath Temple. This caused a controversy, with demonstrations from the Kashmir valley against the land transfer and protests from the Jammu region supporting it. The largest demonstration saw more than 500,000 protesters at a single rally, among the largest in Kashmir's history.

Mohammad Abbas Ansari was a separatist political leader and a well known Shia Muslim scholar, reformer, preacher and cleric from Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir. He was known for his religious lectures and as a Kashmiri separatist, ex-chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, also founder & chairman of the Ittihadul Muslimeen also known as Jammu & Kashmir Ittihadul Muslimeen (JKIM) a Kashmiri nationalist Shia separatist political party which aims for Shi'a–Sunni unity in Kashmir & independence of Jammu and Kashmir from India through peaceful struggle. He is considered a moderate and has called for an end to violence in that region. He is Succeeded by his son Maulana Masroor Abbas Ansari.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 Kashmir unrest</span> Violent protests and riots in Kashmir, India

The 2010 Kashmir unrest was a series of violent protests and riots in the Kashmir Division and Northern Jammu Division of Jammu and Kashmir, India which started in June 2010 after the Indian Army claimed to have killed three Pakistani infiltrators in which a soldier of the Territorial Army, a counter-insurgent and a former special police officer had found three young men from their Nadihal village in Baramulla district and killed them in a "staged" encounter at Sona Pindi. The protests occurred in a movement launched by Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir in June 2010, who called for the complete demilitarisation of Jammu and Kashmir. The All Parties Hurriyat Conference made this call to a strike, citing human rights abuses by security forces. Rioters shouting pro-independence slogans, defied curfew, attacked riot police with stones and burnt vehicles and buildings. The protests started out as anti India protests but later were also targeted against the United States following the 2010 Qur'an-burning controversy. The riot police consisting of Jammu and Kashmir Police and Indian Para-military forces fired teargas shells rubber bullets and also live ammunition on the protesters, resulting in 112 deaths, including many teenagers and an 11-year-old boy. The protests subsided after the Indian government announced a package of measures aimed at defusing the tensions in September 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MC Kash</span> Kashmiri Rapper

Roushan Illahi better known by his stage name MC Kash is a Kashmiri emcee/rapper. Taking his stage name from his place of birth- Kashmir, MC Kash is an independent musician based out of Srinagar.

Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir range from mass killings, enforced disappearances, torture, rape and sexual abuse to political repression and suppression of freedom of speech. The Indian Army, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and Border Security Personnel (BSF) have been accused of committing severe human rights abuses against Kashmiri civilians. According to Seema Kazi, militant groups have also been held responsible for similar crimes, but the vast majority of abuses have been perpetrated by the armed forces of the Indian government.

International People's Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Kashmir (IPTK) is a People's Tribunal formed by Indian human rights activists for the purpose of probing human right violations in the Indian-administered territory of Jammu and Kashmir, and bridging the gap between people living in Kashmir and rest of India. It was first convened in 2008 by Parvez Imroz, Angana P. Chatterji, Gautam Navlakha and Zaheer-Ud-Din. Chatterji served as convener until December 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Exodus of Kashmiri Hindus</span> Exodus of Hindus from the Kashmir Valley in the 1990s

The Exodus of Kashmiri Hindus, or Pandits, is their early-1990 migration, or flight, from the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley in Indian-administered Kashmir following rising violence in an insurgency. Of a total Pandit population of 120,000–140,000 some 90,000–100,000 left the valley or felt compelled to leave by the middle of 1990, by which time about 30–80 of them are said to have been killed by militants.

Masarat Alam Bhat is a Kashmiri Islamist activist and Political separatist leader of Jammu and Kashmir. He is currently serving as the chairman of the Jammu Kashmir Muslim League, and also serves as the interim chairman of Geelani faction of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burhan Wani</span> Kashmiri Islamist militant (1994–2016)

Burhan Wani was a commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, an Islamist militant organization and insurgent group of the Kashmir conflict. He had become a popular figure amongst the local Kashmiri populace, having done so primarily through a strong social media presence, and was responsible for moulding the insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir into a youth-oriented movement. Wani was a militant leader and had reportedly recruited numerous foot-soldiers through his personal efforts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016–2017 Kashmir unrest</span> Pro Independence demonstrations in Indian Administered Kashmir

The 2016–2017 unrest in Kashmir, also known as the Burhan aftermath, refers to protests in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, chiefly in the Kashmir Valley. It started after the killing of militan leader Burhan Wani by Indian security forces on 8 July 2016. Wani was a commander of the Kashmir-based Islamist militant organisation Hizbul Mujahideen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stone pelting in Kashmir</span> Protest tactics in Kashmir

Stone pelting in Kashmir refers to stone throwing by Kashmiris on the Indian forces and Jammu and Kashmir Police deployed for crowd control in Jammu and Kashmir to support the separatists, insurgents. In the local language, it is termed as "Kanni Jung", which means fighting with stones and the stone pelters are called as Sangbaaz or Pathraw Player. However, in the recent past the number of stone pelting has dropped significantly.

References

  1. ↑ "Kashmir protest reaches social networks". Times of India. Aug 6, 2010. Archived from the original on August 12, 2010. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
  2. 1 2 Wasim Bhat (30 June 2011). "Captive City". In Sanjay Kak (ed.). Until My Freedom Has Come: The New Intifada in Kashmir. Penguin Books. p. 105. ISBN   978-0143416470 . Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  3. 1 2 Dilnaz Boga (27 May 2011). "A struggle to speak and be heard". Dawn . Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  4. ↑ Navinta Chadha Behera (27 January 2012). A Perception Survey of Media Impact on the Kashmiri Youth (PDF) (Report). Institute for Research on India and International Studies. p. 40. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 July 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  5. 1 2 Gayatri Parameswaran (28 June 2012). "Rap in Kashmir: to protest or not?". Radio Netherlands Worldwide. Archived from the original on 25 March 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  6. 1 2 3 "MC Kash raps for Kashmir protest victims". BBC. 20 December 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Aijaz Hussain (30 June 2011). "Kashmir Rapper uses Rhymes to Protest Indian Rule". In Sanjay Kak (ed.). Until My Freedom Has Come: The New Intifada in Kashmir. Penguin Books. pp. 113–115. ISBN   978-0143416470 . Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  8. ↑ "Valley's first rapper attracts youth by singing about turmoil". Hindustan Times. Srinagar. 14 November 2010. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  9. ↑ Naseer Ganai (20 June 2011). "Kashmir Valley gives peace a chance with music concerts". India Today. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  10. ↑ Harris Zargar (18 September 2011). "Rock Music Finds a Following in Jammu and Kashmir". Outlook India. New Delhi. Archived from the original on 31 January 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  11. ↑ Anuradha Bhasin Jamwal (28 September 2010). "Indian Policies Making Youth in Kashmir More Defiant and Fearless". Newsline. Archived from the original on 22 December 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  12. ↑ Caelainn Hogan (21 February 2011). "Revolutionising the Revolution". The University Times. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  13. ↑ Nitasha Kaul (August 2011). Kejriwal, Pritha (ed.). "MC Kash: That bayonet of a voice" (PDF). Kindle. 2 (5). India: Ink Publications: 23. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2012.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.