H-Pop phenomenon

H-Pop: the secretive world of Hindutva pop stars Kunal Purohit Harper Collins Rs.499 Pages 306 This book draws us into the world of the modern propaganda machine that the Sangh Parivar has nearly perfected for the new Internet age A silent, hidden campaign master-minded by Hindutva ideologues and conducted by social media entertainers could well prove a game changer in General Election 2024 scheduled for this summer. According to Kunal Purohit, Hindutva or H-Pop, is making waves in the Hindi heartland and BIMARU (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh) states of India. Its popularity is narrated in his revealing book H-Pop, The Secretive World of Hindutva Pop Stars. The author draws us into the world of the modern propaganda machine that the BJP and RSS parivar have nearly perfected for the new Internet age. Flashing across millions of mobiles, TV screens, mofussil kavi sammelans and Hindi language publications, this below-the-radar campaign spews hate and venom against minorities and actual and perceived rivals. Kunal Purohit is an independent award-winning investigative journalist who has been writing on development, politics, inequality and gender issues for over two decades. His discovery of the Sangh Parivar’s closed world H-Pop propaganda machine was accidental. In 2017, a Muslim youth was lynched for marrying a Hindu girl in small town Gumla, UP. Thus began a five-year investigative journey into the H-Pop world of BIMARU India. Through “this work of courage” (Ramachandra Guha), he has unmasked the Hindu supremacy campaign by profiling three H-Pop stars — Kavi Singh, Kamal Agney and Sandeep Deo — and assessing their huge impact upon the ill-educated masses of hinterland India. The book begins with a detailed profile of Kavi Singh, an attractive woman in her early twenties with an enchanting voice, stylish costumery and brilliant skill of singing songs with vitriolic lyrics which she labels as patriotic. Her songs and videos are broadcast on every social media, music and audio-visual channel — YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, Gaana, Saavn, Hungama — throughout the country. In just four years, she has vocalised over 200 songs on almost every major talking point of the Hindutva agenda. From Article 370 to Ayodhya to Pulwama to love-jihad, her lilting melodies and videos are streamed non-stop to millions of viewers. Besides the world of pop music, Purohit takes us deep into the heartland, smaller cities, mofussil towns and villages, where kavi sammelans are popular entertainment. At a sammelan organised by Hindutva nationalist Yati Narsinghanand, who has expressed intent to mobilise a religious army of Hindus to fight for an Islam-free India, he finds heavily garlanded Kamal Agney. In a rousing speech on Gandhi and Godse, Kamal Agney belittles the Congress legacy of Nehru and the Mahatma and ends the lecture with a poem: “Nathu had had enough of all this/He could take no more/He went to Gandhi’s prayer meeting to bid his final adieu, and pumped a bullet so hard, that Gandhi finally remembered Lord Ram/Had Godse not pumped that bullet into Gandhi/Every Hindu would have been…