"I Protest" is a
rap song
"Rap Song" is a song by R&B singer T-Pain. The song features rapper Rick Ross and originally served as a single off T-Pain's fourth studio album '' RevolveЯ'', but never made it on the track list.
Background
His previous singles " Take Your ...
by a
Kashmiri Kashmiri may refer to:
* People or things related to the Kashmir Valley or the broader region of Kashmir
* Kashmiris, an ethnic group native to the Kashmir Valley
* Kashmiri language, their language
People with the name
* Kashmiri Saikia Baruah ...
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
Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greate ...
.
It became an immediate hit in the valley and outside.
The song was sung during protests.
The studio where the song was recorded was raided by the local police after the song was released
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.
Kash faced hard time in recording his songs after this song was released as most of the studios denied facilitating him
and he felt considerable pressure to stop raising such issues in his songs after people close to him showed concern about his security.
Background
2010 Kashmir unrest was a series of violent clashes in
Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to:
* Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent
* Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory
* Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...
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.
Composition
The lyrics to the song are graphic.
The song's video begin with news clippings about the protests during the 2010 protest.
Kash challenges the Indian occupation 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, where no one can question India's claim over Kashmir.
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"''.
The song ends with the names of those 65 people who died during the struggle in 2010, up until September.
Influence
The song made Kash a popular among the people of the valley
and it became a protest anthem for the Kashmiris who were protesting against the state.
Kashmiri youth express their protest against the Indian forces, by displaying "I Protest" banners in blogs, social networking sites, etc.
Those who didn't come out of their homes usually also put "I Protest" as their status on social networking sites.
Groups by the name of "I Protest" were also started on
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...
that was updated with the deeds of Indian security forces against the civilians by posting stories, pictures and videos.
Kash influenced many other Kashmiri youngsters to express their feelings through the art of singing.
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.
References
Further reading
World News: Kashmiri rapper’s fight against violence - thestar.com
External links
BBC News – Kashmir
{{DEFAULTSORT:I Protest
Human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir
Hip hop songs
Indian songs
Protest songs