Days ahead of the commencement of the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections, Bengali artistes, including musicians and actors, have got together to release a music video urging voters to cast their ballot conscientiously.
In the music video, which opens with the declaration that people are not discriminated against each other in Bengal on the basis of different aspects of their identity, and that pluralism has been the core of the state’s identity.
It then goes on to remind Bengali voters, that it is their duty to counter forces that are trying to drive a wedge between the people of Bengal, adding: “We will look hate in the eye and say: This is my India; a country built on the foundation of love’”.
The song written by Anirban Bhattacharya and composed by Subhadeep Guha, has been performed by multiple singers such as Arko Mukherjee, Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Anupam Roy, Anindya Chattopadhyay, Rupankar Bagchi, Surangana Bandyopadhyay, Ujan Chatterjee, Rwitobroto Mukherjee, and Riddhi Sen, among others.
‘Nijeder Mawte, Nijeder Gaan’, which means "our song our way", includes verses from Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s famous ‘Hum Dekhenge’ also – a slogan which was raised by several students protesting the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act.
Through the song, the artistes have slammed the Sangh Parivaar and alleged that the ruling party at the Centre – the Bharatiya Janata Party -- has oppressed people, curbed freedom of speech, and fanned ambitions of fanatics to target religious minorities. Images from the CAA protests that rocked India before the pandemic broke out and the Delhi riots have also been used in the backdrop of the music video to remind voters of the strife torn images of their country.
Before the song concludes, a sheet out of the Preamble of India appears on the screen to remind voters that this country is a “Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic, Republic”.
