Odisha’s Dalit rapper composes song highlighting plight of migrants amid lockdown

With a rap song expressing ordeal of the migrant workers amid the coronavirus crisis, Odisha’s ‘Gully Boy’, Dalit rapper Duleshwar Tandi aka Rapper Dule Rocker has asked the government to answer for the plight of the workers through his song Sarkar, tui jabab de, now making waves on the internet. “Why is the pregnant woman returning, Walking thousands of kilometers, Step by step, barefoot,” goes the lyrics to his powerful new composition that he released in Hindi, English, and Kosli language online. The 27-year-old from Borda village in Kalahandi district said that he “expressed anguish and anger through rap.” 

According to the People Archive of rural India release, Duleshwar, also a migrant worker, has a BSc degree and gives tuitions to students. He moved to Raipur in 2013 and took jobs such as doing dishes and wiping tables at the hotel. As the COVID-19 pandemic hit India, and a national lockdown was imposed on March 23, Duleshwar had to move back to his village. However, when the videos and images of the plight of the migrant workers surface across the social media, he was compelled to write a song, as per a report. His first song was titled 'Sun Sarkar, Sat Katha' released in May.

In one another composition, Duleshwar rapped about the conditions of the migrant workers after they had exhausted all their savings and lost everything in a matter of days amid the pandemic. Those privileged and some leaders gave sermons instead of help, another report quoted him saying.  

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When the lockdown was imposed in India, the poor of the country began suffering, the rapper said, as quoted by People's Archive of Rural India. Labourers lost their jobs, became homeless, and were starving for days. Thousands were forced to walk to their villages barefoot under a scorching sun.

It’s not as if the government is not capable of stopping all this and providing help to the people – instead, they abandoned the poor of India. I am saddened and shocked to see all these. And I think we must question the government, Duleshwar added. 

Family belongs to Scheduled Caste

While Rapper Duleshwar belongs to Dom community, a Scheduled Caste, his mother Pramila is a farmer and firewood collector, and gets a monthly senior citizen pension Rs.500, as per the report. A farmer and local police station assistant, his father, Nilamani Tandi sadly passed away three years ago.  

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