Patiala, Punjab (February 20, 2013): According to media reports: “[g]iving impetus to the public outcry against lewd suggestive songs, students of Punjabi University on Wednesday blacked out Punjabi singers known for spreading vulgarity, during the varsity’s annual fete”.
“Not a single song of singers such as Honey Singh, Diljeet Dosanjh, Miss Pooja, Geeta Zaildaar, Jazzy B and others was played during the five-hour festival, ‘Fete 2013’, on the varsity ground”, online news portal YesPunjab.com has reported.
The decision to boycott the singers had reportedly been taken by the management committee of the festival and students adhered to it.
It was only once that the DJ by mistake played a controversial song, ‘Jande Kunde La Lo Ji’, a work of Jazzy B and Honey Singh. The song was immediately stopped after girl students and the women faculty members of the university took offence to it.
“During the meeting of the management committee, we had taken the decision to boycott lewd songs. Not only the four singers, we did not even allowed ‘Sheela’ and ‘Munni’ Bollywood songs, which projected women in bad light,” said director of women studies and head of the co-ordination committee for the event.
As per YesPunjab: “Voices against vulgarity in Punjabi singing are heard from time to time from different quarters, but there was widespread outrage against such singers after the recent Delhi gang-rape incident. Campaigns on social networking sites to ban such singers have received overwhelming response and rapper Honey Singh was even booked for a vulgar song.
Every year women’s club of university, in collaboration with department of women studies, organises fete, in which, apart from other things, songs on demand are played”.
Secretary of Punjab Istri Jagriti Manch, Aman Deol, who has been leading a struggle against lewd lyrics, has termed this move of the varsity a new beginning. “Punjabi University has lived up to its name by boycotting singers who promote vulgarity and show women in poor light,” she said.
Notably, Punjabi language department has already urged the university administration to ban the shooting of movies and videos of songs of such singers on the varsity campus.