A day after the deceased Khalistani sympathiser and Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala’s song SYL’ (Satluj Yamuna Link Canal) was released, many social media users pointed out the problematic lyrics of the song which centres around the long-standing river water dispute between Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh. Meanwhile, the celebrated boxer and Congress leader Vijender Singh used Facebook to defend Sidhu Moosewala’s song, which openly exalted Khalistani terrorists and called for the secession of Punjab from India.
In his Facebook post, Congress leader Vijender Singh shared a few lines from the song by Moosewala, who had also joined Congress last year before the Punjab Assembly elections.
In the lyrics shared by Singh, Moosewala had said that after ‘returning’ Haryana and Himachal Pradesh to Punjab, complete sovereignty should be provided to Punjab else they will not give a drop of water to anyone. Although the song’s demand for state sovereignty essentially advocates for a separate Khalistan, Vijender Singh defended the song’s lyrics by asserting that Moosewala has spoken about the country’s unification in his song.
Singh further added that Moosewala used the word ‘sovereignty’, by which he meant uniting Haryana and Punjab whereas the truth is that Moosewala’s song discreetly echoes the call of pro-Khalistan groups for the separation of Punjab from India and the establishment of an independent state of Khalistan.
Singh further defended Moosewala by claiming that the deceased singer used the word “sovereignty” to indicate the union of Haryana and Punjab, whereas the truth is that Moosewala, in his song released posthumously, actually advocated the secession of Punjab from India as Khalistan.
As the Twitter user “The Hawk Eye” summarised on Twitter, the lyrics of the song glorified terrorists, provoked violence, and tried to fuel the fire of ‘self-determination’ for Punjab, talking about an independent Khalistan.
INC leader & singer Sidhu Moosewala’a last song “SYL” hits 16mn views in 20hrs. The lyrics & visuals are about disputed SYL Canal which dangerously provokes violence, glorifies terror!sm, & fuels the fire of ‘self-sovereignty’ in an already struggling nation with anarchism.
— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) June 24, 2022
1/ pic.twitter.com/2XKxCmWUrY
The song, in which Moosewala repeatedly says that forget water, we will not give even a drop of water to anyone, has problematic lyrics and visual imagery all the way through. Right at the start, Moosewala talks about giving Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Chandigarh to Punjab. On 1st November 1966, post-independence Punjab was divided into 3 states, Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh on the basis of language.
The song then goes on to demand complete sovereignty for Punjab while also wishing for the return of Babbar Khalsa terrorist Balwinder Jattana.
In the text on-screen during the song, Sidhu Moosewala goes on to call SYL canal the causative agent of the Congress-led pogrom of Sikhs in Delhi in 1984.
The Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) canal
The Satluj Yamuna Link Canal is a proposed 214-kilometre-long canal connecting Sutlej and Yamuna rivers. It was planned in 1966 after the state of Haryana was carved out of Punjab.
While it was resolved to share resources, the conditions for sharing the waters of the Ravi and Beas rivers remained undetermined.
Punjab, however, opposed sharing water from the two rivers with neighbouring Haryana, claiming riparian principles, which indicate that a landowner who owns a piece of property next to a body of water has the right to use the water, besides arguing that it had no water to spare.
Notably, while Vijender Singh’s village in Rohtak, Haryana doesn’t need water from the proposed SYL, plenty of villages in neighbouring districts are totally reliant on rains and are waiting for the completion of Satluj Yamuna Link Canal to get regular water supply for their fields.
