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The Boss & The Rabbi














 The ethos of rock has always been a certain level of authenticity and a vibrant form of expression. Expression, protest, rant that is written about or known of often finds larger audiences and acceptability through music. When Rabbi Shergill sung Bilqis I was reminded of Springsteen's 41 Shots inspired by the police shooting of Amadou Diallo, a 23-year-old Guinean immigrant in New York City who was shot dead by four New York City Police Department plain-clothed officers. The four officers fired a total of 41 shots because they thought Diallo matched the description of a serial rapist.

Rabbi's song touches upon the negligence in Indian governance to take a stand on issues concerning basic human rights, corruption and failing to protect its own citizens who stand up for it. It's a song written in honour of these martyrs who stood up for their beliefs and must be remembered – 

Bilqis Yakub Rasool survived the Gujarat riots 2002 in which her entire family was massacred and she was gang raped. She continues to pursue justice for herself and her family.

Satyendra Kumar Dubey
was a project director at the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). He was murdered in Gaya, Bihar after fighting corruption in the Golden Quadrilateral highway construction project.

Shanmugam Manjunath was a marketing manager for the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) who was murdered for sealing a corrupt petrol station in UP.

Navleen Kumar, who worked for the land rights of tribals in Nallasopara, outskirts of Mumbai was stabbed to death on the terrace of her flat for fighting against builders and land mafia who had been usurping tribal land by terror, force and fraud over the last 20-25 years. On the 19th of June 2002, she was stabbed 19 times.

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