Singers should refrain from songs that glorify arms, gangsters: Artistes

PK Jaiswar

Tribune News Service 

Amritsar, February 22 

At a time when the gun culture and violence are being promoted in Punjabi songs and these are getting popular among the youth, the artiste fraternity has expressed its deep concern. 

Artistes are of the view that Punjabi singers should behave responsibly and refrain from singing songs that glorify arms, gangsters, liquor consumption and present women as commodity. They say the government should also take strict action against such singers. 

Psychologists said such provocative songs had deep impacts, especially on the minds of young generation. Songs promoting weapons, gangsters and presenting women in a bad taste shape their minds in this age of social media, they added. 

Deep Devinder, a noted writer, said meaningless and obscene songs sung by singers and broadcasting them repeatedly on Punjabi channels had been hurting the mother tongue. He said the Punjabi language was the 10th most speaking language in the world. Punjabi was considered as a language of sufis that attract people all over world, he said. “Bringing vulgarity, promoting guns and liquor has badly hurt the Punjabi language,” he added. 

Harinder Sohal, punjabi singer and musician, expressed his anguish and said they were all equally responsible for deteriorating Punjabi singing. “Singers usually say the people like these songs and so they sing them. The audience should ignore such songs and deplore the singers who sung it,” he said. 

Shiromani Natakkar Kewal Dhaliwal said the government should ban songs that promote liquor and arms. “We should also give an alternate to the people may be in schools or other educational institutes where the rich Punjabi culture such as folk songs should be promoted,” he said. 

The artistes also pointed out that singers such as Gurdass Mann, Hans Raj Hans and Dolly Gularia should also come forward on a single platform to save Punjabi singing from such singers. 

Dr PD Garg, professor at the psychiatry department of Government Medical College, said singers should think what impressions they were leaving on the young minds by glorifying the gun culture and liquor consumption. “It is the responsibility of each and every one to nurture young minds in a better environment,” he added.