Kala Punjab, the latest song of the famous Punjabi singer Gurdas Maan, has once again touched the raw nerve of Punjabis by painting a grim picture of Punjab.
The song talks about the drug menace, alcoholism, increasing poison of pesticides and degrading standard of sports. Tremors of pain can be felt both in India and abroad amongst the Punjabi community aft.
In the video song, Maan — playing the role of Time — takes Shaheed Bhagat Singh from 1917 to present-day Punjab, where drug abuse is rampant, crimes against women go unpunished and agriculture is in dire straits.These issues were not just the election issue. The conditions are so significant that it was also a subject for a Bollywood movie Udata Punjab.
Many people are questioning the timing of its launch. Maan, however, maintains that he was the ambassador of Election Commission, therefore he did not release the album before elections. Knowing the fan fair, he enjoys, people are arguing that it would have given a perfect jolt to the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal government which dismissed the drug abuse in Punjab initially.
Many are questioning Maan's stand on drug menace as in one of his songs he talks about alcohol to be enjoyed in Punjab (apna Punjab hove, ghar ki sharab hove) and in his recent song he is standing against alcoholism.
But gaining an undisputed majority and support from his fans in India and from abroad ‘Kala Punjab’ has brought the drug abuse in focus once again.