'Sarke Chunar' row: Govt says song banned, Nora Fatehi says she had flagged vulgar lyrics
New Delhi/Mumbai (PTI): The controversy over "Sarke Chunar" and its sexually explicit lyrics spilled over from angry discussions on social media platforms and elsewhere to Parliament on Wednesday with the government saying the song from the upcoming film "KD The Devil" has already been banned.
Actor Nora Fatehi, who features in the video along with Sanjay Dutt, distanced herself from the gathering storm, saying she had flagged the vulgarity of the Hindi version to the filmmakers. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued notice to the Information and Broadcasting ministry and the Censor Board, which in turn said it had nothing to do with the matter since the song was released on YouTube.
As the issue gathered traction, Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Anand Bhadoria brought it up in the Lok Sabha during Question Hour. Unchecked content on OTT platforms and social media was a bad influence, he said.
Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in his response that the song has already been banned.
"A ban has been imposed on the song. The framers of Constitution placed certain reasonable restrictions, and we should function within those limits. Freedom of speech cannot be absolute, it has to be in the context of the society and culture," Vaishnaw said.
"The way things are spreading rapidly today through digital medium, for the protection of the society, especially for the protection of children, women and deprived groups of the society, whatever hard actions should be taken, the government is ready to take them," he added.
The song was released on YouTube two days ago and quickly went viral for its shock value and lyrics that almost describe a sexual act, triggering outrage on social media. The video disappeared from the platform after the uproar.
"KD The Devil" is a Kannada film, dubbed in four languages, including Hindi. It will release on April 30.
Fatehi posted a video message on Instagram to say she was thankful for the backlash as it pushed the makers to finally remove the song from social media.
"I'd also request everyone to stop sharing the song because you're just giving it a platform unnecessarily. On a side note, I see some of you guys trying to use this as an opportunity to attack my character, it's unfortunate," Fatehi said, adding that she and her team will be more careful in future.
"However, I do want to reiterate that I had no idea about this Hindi song, I did not perform it and there was no permission taken to use it with my image," she said.
The actor-dancer said she agreed to do the song as it was part of a big film and featured a star like Dutt, and she had thought it was a remake of "Layak Nahi Khalnayak Hoon Main".
"I shot this song three years ago in a language called Kannada, which is a part of a different industry called Sandalwood. When I'm on set shooting for this song, I'm relying on the filmmakers to translate the song, and that is what I go by. When they're translating the song, nothing seemed inappropriate or vulgar," she said.
Fatehi also said the image showing her sitting on Dutt's lap, which appears on posters of the song's various language versions, is AI-generated.
"I knew we were going to have issues because at least I understand Hindi. I told the director, this is not going to be okay... I disassociated myself with the project. As you can see, I didn't promote it at all. I again flagged it to the director. I said, my image and reputation is on the line," Fatehi said.
The NHRC action came after it received a complaint alleging that the lyrics of "Sarke Chunar" contains "vulgar, sexually suggestive, and double-meaning" words which are inappropriate for public consumption, especially for children, according to the proceedings of the case on Tuesday.
Seeking the NHRC's intervention, the complainant alleged that the "increasing trend of explicit lyrical content in mainstream entertainment" contributes to "normalisation of inappropriate expressions among young audiences", read the proceedings.
It also sought a report from the certification authority concerned.
The censor board, however, said content on digital platform is not regulated by them.
"This is to clearly state that CBFC has not received any application seeking certification for the song 'Sarke Chunar Teri Sarke' from KD: The Devil Film. It is to be noted clearly that content on digital platforms is not certified by CBFC," the censor board said in a statement.
The original Kannada version of the song is penned by the movie's director Prem. Raqeeb Alam is credited for the Hindi version of the song, which has since been pulled down. The music is by Arjun Janya.
On Tuesday, Alam also dissociated himself from "Sarke Chunar", saying the track was a literal translation from the Kannada original and he had initially refused to write it.
"I have not written these lyrics. They were written by the film's director Prem in Kannada. When I was asked to write all this, I refused, saying such songs won't work, and will be censored too," Alam told HT City.
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UT with dual power structure 'worst form of govt', says Omar Abdullah
Srinagar (PTI): Terming the current administrative structure in Jammu and Kashmir the “worst form of government”, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has called for an urgent shift toward full statehood while acknowledging that significant progress has been made in narrowing differences with the Centre over the transaction of business rules.
The chief minister also hit out at vested interests making efforts to create a political wedge between Jammu and Srinagar, saying “they have failed and they will continue to fail”, and highlighted the restoration of the traditional biannual shift of the capital known as ‘Darbar Move’ as a vital bridge in narrowing the emotional divide between the two regions.
Speaking with PTI, Abdullah argued that the logic behind treating a territory with 90 elected legislators on par with smaller regions like Puducherry, which has only 30, remains incomprehensible, and reiterated his earlier stand that a dual power system where two power structures exist is a "recipe for disaster”.
“Can you not see the difference between a tiny one with 30 MLAs and one with 90 MLAs? And you still believe that this current system is beneficial to Jammu and Kashmir after everything that happened last year?” the chief minister asked while referring to the Pahalgham tragedy, pointing out that keeping elected representatives out of the law and order situation was doing no good.
He specifically noted that the size and scale of Jammu and Kashmir demand a governance model where the elected representatives are fully responsible for administration.
“I continue to maintain that view. I continue to believe that a system of Union territory with an assembly is by far the worst form of government that you can come up with,” Abdullah told PTI here recently.
The chief minister highlighted that several key institutions, including universities, the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, and the Power Development Corporation, should have automatically come under the domain of the elected government.
“I am not even arguing on the central services, law and order, and police. As a Union territory, those are automatically within the domain of the unelected government. But these were institutions that were previously the responsibility of the elected government. And they should be,” Abdullah said.
Despite these friction points, Abdullah expressed optimism, stating that his government and the Government of India are close to reaching an agreement on the rules of business and that a formal proposal for the appointment of a new advocate general has finally been dispatched to the appropriate authorities.
“Again, as I said, we have made significant progress on these issues,” he said.
On the long-standing issue of summary dismissals of government employees without judicial inquiry, Abdullah described the process as arbitrary, opaque and unlikely to withstand judicial scrutiny.
This practice did not originate with the current lieutenant governor's administration but was initiated during the previous BJP-PDP coalition government, he said.
“Look, everyone has the right to prove their innocence. For some reason, these employees were not given that opportunity. And I have no doubt that going ahead, many of these people will return to government service on the back of relief from the court.
“We will not be able to defend the dismissal of these employees in the courts. It will happen, you mark my words, because the process is arbitrary. The process is opaque. There is no clarity and transparency in the process. Ultimately, we will not be able to bear up to judicial scrutiny," he said.
Referring to the promises made by his party, the National Conference, Abdullah detailed the operationalisation of his poll promises, including 200 units of free electricity and six free cooking gas cylinders for the poorest households, underlining that power subsidy is being provided to the poorest of the poor.
He argued that anyone above the poverty line should pay market rates for electricity to ensure that state resources are prioritised for the most vulnerable.
“Rich people shouldn't even be getting subsidised electricity. If I could, though obviously I can't do it in a single stroke, I would like to remove subsidised electricity from all these rich people.
“Anybody above BPL (Below Poverty Line) should not be paying subsidised rates for electricity. They should pay the market rate,” he said.
Beyond direct welfare, Abdullah highlighted the restoration of the ‘Darbar Move’ and the introduction of free education and bus travel for women as key milestones in his 20-month-old administration.
Speaking on the composite culture of J-K, Abdullah said the traditional biannual shift of the capital has allowed a new generation of employees from Jammu, who had never worked in the Valley before, to bond with their Kashmiri counterparts.
“The distance between Jammu and Kashmir has reduced to a great extent,” Abdullah said, adding that the two regions historically come together during times of adversity, whether after natural disasters or security crises.
Replying to a query on Kashmiri Pandits who migrated to various camps in Jammu, Abdullah said the question needs to be asked of the BJP as to why they are still in camps.
“Please ask the BJP how many more elections do they want to exploit their (Kashmiri Pandits’) votes before actually doing something to bring them back,” Abdullah said.
Terming the migration “deeply unfortunate”, Abdullah said, “We want those who left in the late 80s, early 90s, to come back. I have always maintained that they left because their sense of security was snatched away. They will come back only when that sense of security is restored. And we have not been able to do that so far.”
Crediting former prime minister Manmohan Singh for building the Jagti township in Jammu for migrants and creating a job quota for them, Abdullah said that nothing more has been done for the community since then.
To a question on dynastic politics following the recent defeat of M K Stalin in Tamil Nadu, Abdullah dismissed the idea that the defeat of established leaders is a verdict on their lineage, and argued that belonging to a political family only "opens a door" but does not guarantee a seat at the table.
“What keeps it open is your own performance,” Abdullah said, pointing out that even non-dynastic leaders like Mamata Banerjee faced electoral setbacks.
He also dismissed rumours of an imminent Cabinet reshuffle in J-K as “absolute lies”.
