Rapper Arivu’s viral new song takes on CAA, NRC
Tamil rapper Arivarasu Kalainesan, popularly known as Arivu, released his album Therukural last year. Through his latest single titled Sanda Seivom, the rapper and song-writer calls people to take up a fight against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), exhorting that “Law is a law only if it supports equality”.
Chennai
“The anti-CAA protests have been taking place all over the country. But, it is the students who have been standing as the face of the protests to protect our democracy, even as they are bleeding after being beaten up by the police. As an artiste, I wanted to portray the issue and stand in solidarity with the students,” 26-year-old Arivu tells DT Next.
Through the three-minute song, Arivu traces the historical roots of our country’s founding. “Democracy is the face of a free nation,” he sings, urging that, “The foundation of our constitution is against religious discrimination. Killing secularism is a foolish act,” as the translated lyrics spell.
“It took me a day’s time to write the song, which I had performed at an anti-CAA protest in Chennai earlier too. I have been performing the song at other public spaces as well. I want the song to convey that nationality doesn’t come from one’s birth,” he asserts.
The singer attacks the concept of ‘minority’, as mentioned in the CAA. “Citizenship is our fundamental right. To deprive us of that is a great tragedy…CAA is here to divide us,” he stresses, singing to a catchy tune. “Who is the minority here? Working class is the majority around the world, yet we are divided!” Arivu says in the song.
The singer says art is meant to be a tool to communicate the issues of a society. “Life of many oppressed people has never found place in our art. At least in our generation, I believe that we have to the convey the stories of our roots and not ignore them,” he stresses.
Throughout the song, which is a call to action, he tells his fellow citizens, “Come forward Tamizha. Let us fight, in the streets. If our rights are taken away, let us fight. United as one, let us fight.” Arivu also quotes in his song the Father of Indian Constitution, Dr BR Ambedkar, saying, “We are Indians, firstly and lastly.”
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