Rap Captures Voices of Dissent in Kashmir

    Youth are increasingly using music to air
    political grievances in Indian-administered
    Kashmir.

By Felix Gaedtke and Gayatri Parameswaran
ajazeera
July 21, 2012

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/07/2012719122839828791.html

Zubair Margay, who goes by the stage name Haze
Kay, raps about the conflict in Indian-administered
Kashmir. The 23-year-old, one of the first rappers to
emerge from the valley, blames the Indian military
for "ruining" his homeland.

In his two-storey apartment on the outskirts of
Srinagar, he spreads out his "recording studio" on
the dining table in front of us - a keyboard, a laptop,
a microphone and headphones. He guides us
through his music, before he starts rapping again.
All his songs have an easily identifiable common
thread: protest.

Kashmir has been a contentious issue between
India and Pakistan since the 1947 partition. In the
late 1980s, counter-insurgency tactics by India
made Kashmir one of the most militarised regions in
the world. Today, an estimated half a million Indian
soldiers are stationed here, with one soldier for
every 17 civilians.

But according to Haze Kay and his rapper
colleagues, the trials and tribulations of the
Kashmiris have been forgotten in the region's
turmoil. They want to buck this trend by giving
Kashmiris a voice through their music.

Rise of rap

Rap music in Kashmir drew attention during the
2010 summer protests against the Indian military.
Drawing inspiration from the Palestinian intifada,
young Kashmiri men came out on the streets to pelt
stones at military personnel. In response, the Indian
army killed around 100 civilian protesters, many of
them teenagers.

"I protest", by MC Kash - aka Roushan Illahi -
became an anthem of these protests. [
http://tinyurl.com/ckbakrt] Since then, the number
of protest rappers in the valley has been
multiplying; today, there are more than a dozen
renowned Kashmiri protest hip-hop artists.

Dr Ronald Eyermann, a professor at Yale University
who researches the role of music in social and
political movements, explained that people resort to
music as a form of protest in fearful and
intimidating situations because "it welds a group
together, gives courage and solace in trying
situations, offers a group a chance to tell their story,
their history".

Eyermann added that rap functions as a form of
respite for agitated youngsters in Kashmir, providing
"an attitude and symbol which express[es]
resistance".

"My music raises issues in Kashmir. Why is
someone picking up stones and throwing them? It is
about giving them a voice. It is about conveying
their message to the people."

- MC Haze Jay, Kashmiri rapper

Haze Jay agreed: "My music raises issues in
Kashmir. Why is someone picking up stones and
throwing them? It is about giving them a voice. It is
about conveying their message to the people."
People around the world should know why there is
such discontent among Kashmiris, he added.

Fear and intimidation

A major reason for this discontent stems from
human rights violations allegedly committed by the
Indian army. According to some estimates, more
than 8,000 non-combatants have disappeared from
Kashmir in the past two decades. In 2011, human
rights lawyer Pervez Imroz uncovered mass graves
containing more than 2,000 bodies. The State
Human Rights Commission (SHRC) agreed with
Imroz's claims that these bodies could belong to
some of those who disappeared.

Horrid stories of enforced disappearances and fake
encounters echo in the valley. Haze Kay narrates
one: "It happened right in front of my neighbour's
home. A military jeep brought someone and made
him stand in front of that neighbour's door. A few
shots and he was dead. The next day, the
newspapers falsely said that it was an encounter.
It's clear that they are using civilians as targets and
human shields."

In one of his rap songs, Haze Kay questions the
Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), in
operation in Kashmir since 1990, which gives
troops the right to shoot anyone merely on grounds
of suspicion and guarantees them immunity from
prosecution. Haze Kay believes the AFSPA is largely
responsible for giving legal impunity to the army in
the context of its poor human rights record.

"If something is going wrong, it should be brought to
notice. People should know about it," Haze Kay said.
"I am not saying I want freedom or my country is
bad. I am saying that I am living here, I am a
resident, I am a voter, give me my rights. Give me a
place where I feel safe."

As he explains more about his political views and
his personal experiences with the Indian army, his
mother walks out to the room where we are
conducting the interview. She makes a humble plea
to us to stop recording for a moment. She has been
overhearing our conversations, and warns her son
to "confine his comments to music".

His mother is worried that Haze Kay might run into
trouble for speaking out against the administration.
"After all he's my son and I am his mother," she
says. "My heart will be throbbing about his safety
once he leaves home tomorrow."

Facing threats

"If I am caught singing something that's seen as
being politically threatening, I would be slapped
with the Public Safety Act and my life would be over
... They ask us to sing about certain topics. That
way they try to control our anger and our voice."

- MC Youngblood, Kashmiri rapper

The fear Haze Kay's mother feels is not unfounded.
Rappers in Kashmir have faced direct threats and
intimidation from the administration.

MC Youngblood, full name Qasim Hyder, is a
budding rapper in Srinagar - lately, he's been
having troubles finding a studio to record his rap
songs.

"I heard that the studios were getting raided. I was
worried that the same thing would happen to me,"
MC Youngblood said. "If I am caught singing
something that's seen as being politically
threatening, I would be slapped with the Public
Safety Act and my life would be over."

The 19-year-old complains that the studios in
Srinagar check the rap lyrics before allowing rappers
to use their facilities, and also impose other
conditions. "They ask us to sing about certain
topics. That way they try to control our anger and
our voice."

As a result of these restrictions, many protest
rappers stay underground and MC Youngblood has
now also begun recording at home in his ad-hoc
studio.

He said he has to be careful because he doesn't
want his parents to know what he's doing. "Only my
sister and my younger brother know about my
music. I don't want many people to know because if
I get into trouble, it might also get them into a
mess."

Stifling voices of dissent?

In August this year, Kashmir will be organising its
first rap battle, Rap Impact, an event which is
advertised with posters all over the central mall in
Srinagar. Entry is open to anyone but protest
rappers.

DJ Aki, Kashmir's first DJ, is organising the event.
While he welcomes people from "all religions, creeds
and castes" to join the contest, he says he won't
tolerate protest rap. "I have put down clear cut
conditions that there will be no political rap in the
competition, because it will end up in violence," he
says. "If people still go ahead and perform protest
rap, they will be pulled off the stage and terminated
from further participating."

DJ Aki thinks protest rappers are misplacing their
anger. "If they are angry about some issues, they
should be more constructive in going about it. Just
blaming India for what's happening here isn't going
to help. Their protest rap is not going to solve the
problem of Kashmir."

Al Jazeera also met a number of protest rappers
who, while requesting anonymity, accused the
organisers of being hand-in-glove with the Indian
administration. They viewed the contest as a way of
stifling their voice and distracting young rappers
away from any political inclination. One of the
rappers explained: "They have been sponsored
partly by the government - that is why they aren't
allowing any protest rap."

But DJ Aki dismisses these claims and highlighted
that the former mayor of Kashmir contributed
money to the contest out of his own pocket. "The
contest is a platform for young artists. We are
artists, let's not forget that. We are not politicians.
So let us just perform music and leave the politics
to the politicians."

The 23-year-old DJ introduced us to 17-year-old
Hamza Arshad, a participant at the competition.
Arshad is not a protest rapper and is proud of it. He
thinks protest rappers are primarily after fame, and
doesn't mind the conditions of the contest. When
asked about his political views on Kashmir, he darts
back: "I love India. It is my motherland."
__________

Follow Felix Gaedtke on Twitter: @FelixGaedtke, and
Gayatri Parameswaran: @pgaya3

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