Mankirt Aulakh's new song 'Asla' lands in trouble for promoting weapons
BJP leader and Co-Convener, Punjab Trade Cell, Arvind Sharma filed a complaint against renowned Punjabi singer Mankirt Aulakh with Director General of Police (DGP), Punjab Gaurav Yadav. The complaint stems from a new song of Mankirt Aulakh that has been targeted for promoting gun culture in Punjab. It has been alleged that despite a ban on such songs promoting gun culture, such songs continue to be released.
The latest case involves a new song by Mankirt Aulakh ‘Asla’, to which the BJP leader Arvind Sharma has raised objections. Sharma has written to the DGP and claimed that such songs incitement violence. He has demanded that such songs must be banned and removed from YouTube. As per reports, Mankirt Aulakh has been touring Punjab for the past 15 days to promote his new song that was released just a few days ago on February 6.
The song titled ‘Asla’ by Mankirt Aulakh and Zehr Vibe has been released on digital platforms including YouTube. Just moments after its release, the song became controversial due to its lyrics and visuals as it features weapons.
In his complaint, the BJP leader writes to DGP Gaurav Yadav, drawing attention towards the growing gun culture in Punjab and other social and legal problems that arise due to it. He also mentions in his complaint that the Punjab Government has banned such songs promoting weapons, violence and gun culture. He mentions that despite this, songs like ‘Asla’ by Mankirt Aulakh continue to be released, violating government policy and pushing the youth towards weapons and violence.
Talking further about this, the leader claims that Punjab is already grappling with a serious problem of drug abuse, gang warfare and illegal weapons and in such an environment such songs glorifying all this would ultimately incite youth towards crime and violence, create fear and instability in the society and also undermine the efforts of the police and administration to maintain law and order.
It is noteworthy that, the Supreme Court of India has clarified in various judgements that freedom of expression (Article 19(1)(a)) is not an absolute right and that if any song, speech, or expression poses a threat to public peace, law and order, or morality, the state has the absolute right to impose appropriate restrictions, and that content promoting violence and weapons is not within the scope of constitutional protection.
In regard with these concerns, the complainant has requested to immediately take down the song ‘Asla’ from all digital platforms, including social media and music platforms. He also requests an investigation and necessary action against the singer and other parties responsible for releasing the song despite a strict ban as per law.