SHAURYA SINGH THAPA
JAILHOUSE ROCK:
Music and Musicians behind bars in India
Over the years, some amusing music experiments have
been born within prison walls. When it comes to musicians
in jails, the list will have a bazillion names. From unruly
hipsters like Jim Morrison to activist-poets like rap group
NWA, many musicians have gone to jail for their music or
just their personality.
Sometimes, the reasons for being incarnated might be
something like murder, destruction of public property or
sexual abuse. So, let’s not delve towards that side. Most of
the musicians in the US and Europe might go behind bars
only for such notoriety but in modern times, musicians of the
Third World mostly go to jail for political reasons.
Take the case of Vo Minh Tri, a major Vietnamese drummer
who had to serve time for four years, only to be released in
2015. What was his crime? Writing politically sensitive songs.
Similarly, Uighur singer and musician Abdurehim Heyit was
mysteriously taken captive by Chinese authorities two years
back and he’s still missing.
Such cases are present in India too. Kabir Kala Manch is
a group of ten musicians from Pune whose songs often are
marked by strong social messages and critique of the state.
They often emphasise on the issues of communities that are
socially and financially marginalised. But with the ‘anti-
national’ bandwagon in the country, this music troupe’s
concerts started getting boycotted and three members were
even arrested a few years back.
The Act which allows their imprisonment is the infamous
1967 Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. It has been called
‘draconian’ by many for how it has been used to imprison
artists on exaggerated accusations of political criticism.
Some Indian artists have had other fruitful experiences in
prison. Raghu Ram, the grey-bearded bassist of Indian roc
outfit Indian Ocean is one of India’s most popular activist
28
The
Score Magazine
highonscore.com
musicians. In the 90s, when Narmada Bachao Andolan was in
full swing, Ram was imprisoned.
The public movement started to prevent the construction of
hydro-projects on the river Narmada by the government as
it would affect the local ecosystem and the Adivasis (tribals)
would be dislocated. Behind bars, Ram wrote and composed a
song called Chitu.
Chitu was about a tribal man called Chitu who was displaced
due to government policy. What’s amusing is that the jail
where Ram was housed; it was Chitu’s house once upon a
time. Ram recalls that he sang the song with the prisoners
and even the warden joined in!
But probably the biggest celebration of music in an Indian
jail was helmed by the jazz-pop-rap band The Ska Vengers.
It is one of those groups who makes jumpy dancey tunes but
the lyrical content is much deeper and political. They have
spoken against censorship and religious extremism but one
of their members went to jail for not an ideological cause.
Their UK-origin keyboardist Stefan Kaye was jailed in Delhi’s
Tihar Jail for overstaying his visa. There, he interacted with
many prisoners and found out some of them might have even
been innocent and imprisoned unjustly. As Kaye put it in
his own words, ‘They were people who happened to be in the
wrong place at the wrong time, people who were branded
Maoists despite negligible evidence’.
This gave birth to The Ska Venger’s 2012 concert in Tihar
Jail. It turned out to be the largest rock concert to be held
in a prison. The 2 lakh rupees raised in the show through
tickets were used to buy musical instruments for the inmates.
They even wished to start a music tuition program for the
prisoners. The concert can still be seen as a unique Indian
musical happening. Johnny Cash’s Folsom legacy was still
alive, and maybe even better…