At Maa Boli march in Jalandhar, Punjabi singer Mankirt Aulakh glorifies liquor, gun culture, sparks row

The Maa Boli Punjabi March, organised by the Punjabi Jagriti Manch to promote Punjabi language, courted controversy after Punjabi singer Mankirt Aulakh sang his song 'Badnaam' on the stage, drawing criticism for glorifying liquor, weapons and violence.

The march was led by Deepak Bali, AAP general secretary and adviser, Tourism and Cultural Affairs Department, Punjab, on whose invitation Aulakh had come. But, instead, he made the youth sing the lyrics of the controversial song with him which had words 'bandook', 'asla', 'neat' and 'khoon', all in contradiction of the Punjab and Haryana High Court directions.

The HC directions state, "The DGPs of Punjab, Haryana and the UT Chandigarh are directed to ensure that no songs are played, glorifying the liquor, wine, drugs and violence in any song even in live shows".

Interestingly, when the singer was singing the song, Bali, who was standing close to him before and after his performance, quickly sneaked away trying to avoid being with him that moment. However, the local activists have taken a strong exception to the choice of song of Mankirt at the event.

"It made completely no sense singing such controversial song and making the youth sing the same lyrics after him. He has violated the HC orders at a function where he had been invited to promote Punjabi language and culture. The organisers should have stopped him and given him instructions about the choice of songs that he would sing from the stage", said MP Singh, a Jalandhar-based activist.

Interestingly, Mankirt had three weeks ago released a new song 'Asla'. Nawanshahr-based activist Parvinder Singh Kitna had lodged a complaint against him with the SSP, Nawanshahr. The SSP had summoned the singer in his office at 10 am to clarify his side on the issue but he did not appear.

Kitna said, "Not just has Mankirt glorified weapons, but his new song also mentions a line which implies that to settle scores, one has to keep unlicensed weapons".

Meanwhile, the march received a huge response as students, teachers, Aam Aadmi Party leaders and cultural artistes participated in large numbers. The march started from Lyallpur Khalsa School, Nakodar Road, where Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan, Cabinet Minister Mohinder Bhagat, MP Ashok Mittal, DC Dr Himanshu Aggarwal and AAP leader Rajwinder Kaur Thiara took part.

Sandhwan lauded the efforts of the Punjabi Jagriti Manch for annually organising the event to spread awareness about the importance of the mother tongue. He urged youngsters to become ambassadors of Punjabi and propagate the message of 'Maa Boli' worldwide. Sandhwan emphasised that while all languages deserve respect, people must prioritise their mother tongue. He encouraged parents to converse with their children in Punjabi at home.

Other singers who performed at the event were Dalwinder Dyalpuri, Kulwinder Kailey and Gurlez Akhtar.