The use of DJs in Hindu religious or Hindutva political processions, playing in full volume outside mosques, has of late become a cause for communal tensions, the most recent case being the violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich in October.
In the last few years, this omnipresent music has pushed the sonic limits of India’s already saturated soundscape.
It is difficult to miss the music. The catchy beats and high-pitched music almost drown the lyrics till you actually hear them. And once you do, the lyrics are often difficult to forget as many of the songs are steeped in anti-Muslim rhetoric.
Whether you call it Saffron Pop, Hindutva Pop or H-Pop, it has become integral to the Hindu Right’s cultural, social, and political mobilisation.
While the use of DJs is a new phenomenon, the interplay of music, processions and violence has a very long history, with recorded incidents going back to the 19th century. The recent book by Kunal Purohit (2024) has brought this subject to the fore while there are earlier work exists such as stories by Quratulain Rehbar (2022), Mahtab Alam (2010), DW and The Quint (2019).
In this article, I will be looking at how music and processions have been central to the history of communal hate in India. Basically, what was ‘H-Pop’ before it became ‘H-Pop’?
This story was originally published in thequint.com. Read the full story here.
