I am a big fan of neo-soul/neo-funk, so good to see Indian artists also doing something in that style.
A remix of an old Pakistani* song.
*XTM edit; I do not condone intellectual theft. The original version was sung in Pakistan in the late 80’s.
Please note to all I’m now going to be far less tolerant of tricks & provocations on ALL sides.
It’s in very poor taste to appropriate the hard & beautiful work of a now deceased female artist.
This ….is a good version. But the OG is……….magic. Stumbled across the original one a couple of months ago, have been playing it on repeat so often.
Yes the original is Pakistan; BB is trying to troll.
I am now going to be much sharper in moderation.
It is not intellectual theft.
It is a remix and I assume the royalty holders are getting royalties.
THIS version is done by an Indian artist which is what I am putting here.
Lots of British desi pop samples Indian artists and those are still British songs.
I think the lines on….what is “Indian” and “Pakistani” music are nebulous. Not talking about individual artist copyrights etc of course.
Are you absolutely certain his intent was to troll?
I understand that decision making, moderation, editing is a time-sink. My input would be that lets aim for consistency and ..even-handedness, along with as light a touch as possible.
More light than heat of course – onus on contributors on that front.
I just want to say that Musarrat Nazir is not dead. According to Wikipedia, she lives with her husband in Canada.
When I was a kid, I was obsessed with her song “Mera Laung gawacha”. I even told my Nani that I wanted to marry Musarrat Nazir.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1MSUIGk4dc
Oops I amended it –
The post still says that she’s deceased. Which I don’t believe she is.
Not “her” song.
Old folk song which precedes the formation of Pakistan.
Indian artists have also done versions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDW4yiW8HKk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l12_JIQ2TqA
I have no problem with “Laung gawacha” being a folk song.
The Indian nation-state does not own Punjabi culture.
Geographically, most of the British-era Punjab province is in Pakistan.
It does. Pakistan does not even have the Punjabi language as an official language unlike Indian Punjab.
No wonder, Punjabi language media is dominated by Indians.
I think Punjabi language is really carried by the Sikhs more than anyone else..
Punjabi and Seraiki and other local languages are VERY strong in Pak; just don’t have official support (it’s complex I need to write on it)
Punjabi is the liturgical language of Sikhism just as Arabic is the liturgical language of Islam.
Urdu is Pakistan’s national language. Punjabis are the dominant ethnic group in the country and as part of the bargain of “Pakistaniat” they (we?) gave up their own language.
My own maternal grandparents spoke Punjabi to each other but Urdu to their children (who were the first post-Partition generation). They did this explictly because Quaid-e-Azam had said Urdu was the national language. My mom learned Punjabi because she was raised in Sialkot and because her paternal relatives (who were from a different social class than her maternal relatives) spoke only Punjabi. My grandparents sent my mother to an elite English-language school (The Convent of Jesus and Mary).
Now, the elite has moved towards English. English-medium schools don’t allow children to speak Urdu much less Punjabi.
I was in the gym recently and this lady had brought her toddler. The kid spent the entire time speaking English–not a single word of Urdu.
The Indian nation-state cannot own a culture that existed long before 1947. Baba Bulleh Shah, Shah Hussain etc are all part of Pakistan’s culture.
More than 60% of Pakistan’s population is ethnically Punjabi. There are more Punjabis in Pakistan than in India. This is simply a fact.
ALL pre-1947 culture belongs to India as India is the successor state.
One nation-state cannot own the common culture.
You are entitled to your POV. I’m not going to belabor this point.
In this particular area, you are on weaker ground than I am since I am a trained ethnomusicologist.
India is a civilization state.
Pakistan is not.
“Civilization state” is a right-wing notion.
I’ve made my views on that clear so I’m not going to belabor them here.
https://kabiraltaf.substack.com/p/on-civilization-states-vs-nation
Check this out.
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/gdp-per-capita-maddison-project-database?tab=line&country=IND~PAK~BGD
See where India starts and where Pakistan does.
Pakistan came out of India in 1947 like Bangladesh out of Pakistan in 1971.
Everything else is cope.
The modern nation-states of “India” and “Pakistan” were created at the exact same time–August 15, 1947. This is the historical consensus.
BRITISH India was not a nation-state but a colony.
East Pakistan seceded in 1971 and became Bangladesh. It is possible to secede from a nation-state and not from a colony.
In the spirit of being “high signal” we don’t need to constantly re-litigate this.
No.
India was the successor state of British India.
Inherited everything.
You clearly don’t know what a nation-state is.
I’m tired of this argument. We’ve had it multiple times back when you were “A Doval” and “Honey Singh”.
In the spirit of being “high signal” we need to move on.
Calm pls – Kabir is making valid argument; you don’t need to be rude.
He is not “coping” but your arguments are not solid. The Raj itself was an imperial construct so there is much nuance.
That’s a maximalist interpretation
I actually agree with RNJ for once (surprise surprise). Music doesn’t stop at national borders.
Hindustani music is the art music of today’s North India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The music has existed longer than either of these nation-states.
Even when it comes to post 1947, plenty of Indians sing the ghazals of Ghulam Ali and Medhi Hassan (clearly “Pakistani”). If I’m not wrong, these ghazals have been performed on “Indian Idol” as well.
Faiz sahab’s “Hum Dekhingay” was (controversially) recited in India during the CAA protests.
I myself have recorded Begum Akhtar’s “Cha Rahee Kali Ghata” (clearly Indian though I would argue that dadra as a genre is part of our common culture).
A rendition of Hum Dekhenge
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8QYVwX0M6g
maybe Kabir would be better placed to comment but I have noticed that when Bollywood reworks a song; the artistic flavour gets lost for commerciality.
https://www.brownpundits.com/2025/05/17/from-yohani-to-noora-how-bollywood-mughalizes-everything/
As a rendition of the song this is fine but “The Kashmir Files” is a propaganda movie (which I’m sure you are perfectly aware of).
This pales in comparison to Iqbal Bano’s rendition. That is how the song is supposed to be sung.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYbSVlCS0-g
“Hum Dekhengay” was written to protest the Zia dictatorship. It is a progressive song by definition.
This version is better than the Iqbal Bano rendition because it showcases the reality.
Musically, Iqbal Bano’s rendition is the gold standard for how this song is supposed to be sung.
“The Kashmir Files” is right-wing propaganda but of course you’re entitled to your opinion.
No, the Kashmir Files version is better as it exposes the evil.
Don’t politicise the aesthetics
That makes no sense with respect
[…] the context of recent discussions on Indian and Pakistani music, I am cross posting this essay on Kabir Oral Traditions. It is important to remember […]