Songs of a movement
Songs and poetry can give a movement a shared vocabulary, express its demands and help participants sustain a sense of connection. During the 2020–21 protests against India’s farm laws, Punjabi artists and participants produced songs about farmers’ concerns and the mobilisation. The Indian Express reported that Kanwar Grewal and Harf Cheema’s song ‘Pecha’ was played during journeys, communal meals and protest gatherings; it also discussed Grewal’s ‘Ailaan’. A song is evidence of an artist’s message and of how it circulated; it should not be treated as a statement of every participant’s views or as independent proof of every claim in its words.[1]
Performance and circulation
Music travelled through recordings, online video and live gatherings. Contemporary reporting in The Tribune described Punjabi singers producing new songs in response to the farm-law protests and quoted performers discussing their relationship to farming communities. Different settings changed how audiences encountered a song: a performance at a protest site was not the same experience as a video shared with relatives elsewhere. Popularity is also difficult to measure from a single platform’s view count. To study a performance, record its creator, date, language and setting, and ask whose voice is heard and whose is missing.[2]
Translation and interpretation
The Sikh Research Journal published a selection of protest songs and poems in Punjabi with transliteration and English translation, noting that the music and videos form part of their effect. Translation can make a work accessible while leaving choices about sound, idiom and local references to the translator. Compare the translated words with the original and, where possible, the performance itself. Researchers should respect the rights attached to recordings and lyrics and identify the version they used. Songs and poems are valuable sources for understanding feeling and argument, alongside reporting, organisational records and individual testimony.[3]
Sources & notes
Source records include access dates and, where known, limits on what was examined. Checks used AI assistance; independent human or specialist review has not been completed.
- Raakhi Jagga; The Indian Express. Punjabi singers’ riveting anthems liven up farmers’ protests ↗dated newspaper report · Source date: 2020-11-30 · Locator: Opening report on Pecha, its performers and use during protest journeys; later paragraph on Ailaan. Accessed 2026-11-04.Published report inspected; recordings, performances and platform counts were not independently checked.Return to Songs of a movement, paragraph 1 ↑
- Sheetal; The Tribune Web Desk. Punjabi singers come up with new songs to motivate protesting farmers ↗dated newspaper report · Source date: 2020-12-06 · Locator: Report dated 6 December 2020, opening and named performers’ comments on protest songs. Accessed 2026-11-04.Published report inspected; performances, view counts and lyrics were not independently checked.Return to Performance and circulation, paragraph 1 ↑
- Sikh Research Journal, compilation. Songs and Poems of the Farmers’ Protests ↗Written source · Source date: 2021-04-20 · Locator: Sikh Research Journal 6(1), pp. 139–149; compilation introduction and named contributions. Accessed 2026-11-04.Contemporary reporting or cultural research inspected; perspective and scope stated. Bibliographic details were rechecked on 4 November 2026; this metadata check alone does not establish independent review of additional material.Return to Translation and interpretation, paragraph 1 ↑
Record PH-JOU-0068 · English edition · human review not performed