Skip to main content

Singing for #BlackLivesMatter, Dalit JNU alumni seeks to expose Indian 'hypocrisy'

By A Representative
In a unique move, a 27-year-old from Tentulipadar, a village in Odisha’s Koraput district, who is post-graduate in Spanish and Latin American Literature from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been on an anti-caste mission by rooting lyrics in his lived experiences as a Dalit man.
A presenter at French Radio Live, Sumeet Samos has taken his rap to various parts of France and Mauritius, where small gatherings of people, ranging from school children to seniors, are made familiar with discussions on caste and its ramifications in India, including reservation in education and jobs and honour killings, using videos, maps and illustrations.
Excited by the reach of social media and its revolutionary potential, he decided to combine his lived reality, academic background and experience in activism (as a part of the Birsa Ambedkar Phule Students’ Association) with songs that sound like protest anthems and powerful declarations, instead of run-of-the-mill rap tracks about machismo and money, says a report.
“While others may rap about beautiful women, owning property and cars, Samos raps about the lack of resources for the marginalised, land grabbing and institutional murders of Dalit scholars. His songs represent a counter-culture, not entertainment”, the report says, quoting him as saying, “I never turn down an opportunity to perform on an academic campus or at a protest.”
One who has performed at over 100 events, his latest releases are Fighter and Jaati. In Jaati, he calls out the hypocrisy of Indians who will support Black Lives Matter, while staying mum on caste-based atrocities in India. Fighter, on the other hand, is more of a personal journey of his anti-caste politics inspired by BR Ambedkar.

Comments

Post a Comment

NOTE: Hateful, abusive comments won't be published. -- Editor

TRENDING

Tibetan activist’s self-immolation sparks fresh concerns over cultural rights

By Kumar Krishnan*  The question of Tibet has once again entered international discourse, raising difficult questions about human rights, religious freedom, cultural identity, language, and the relationship between political power and the rights of indigenous communities. On 20 August 2026, the Kashag and the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile jointly organised a solidarity prayer service and peace march to mark the 49th day since the death of Lobga Rangzen, a Tibetan activist who died after self-immolating on 2 July in front of the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
Post a Comment
»

IMF's policies 'stabilise' external creditors' balance sheets, 'generate' crisis in Africa

By Grieve Chelwa, Vijay Prashad   Across Africa, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) presents itself as the custodian of macroeconomic stability. Its latest Article IV staff reports on Ethiopia . Malawi , Nigeria , South Africa , and Zambia are written for economies with very different histories and institutions. Yet they converge on a familiar prescription: fiscal consolidation, tighter monetary policy, market-determined exchange rates, subsidy reform, deregulation and ‘private-sector-led growth’. No serious economist can dismiss macroeconomic stability.
Post a Comment
»

Gujarat Sachivalaya blacklists, denies entry to woman social activist: Will NHRC probe?

By Kantilal Parmar*  I have approached the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) seeking an independent, impartial, and transparent investigation into a serious incident that took place at the Gujarat Secretariat in Gandhinagar on August 18, 2026. The matter concerns social activist and women’s rights leader Chandrikaben Solanki, who, according to the information available to me, was denied an entry pass to the Secretariat when she went there to meet Gujarat’s Social Justice and Empowerment Minister, Dr. Manishaben Vakil, to raise an issue concerning social justice.
Post a Comment
»