Lawfare – General, Others

At 3 pm on July 16, police officials arrived at Pawan Semwal’s home in Delhi dressed in civil clothes. The Garhwali folk singer had uploaded a song just hours earlier that garnered over 15,000 views—and caught the attention of authorities. “They inquired about my song and asked me to remove Pushkar Dhami’s name and photos,” he told Frontline. “I replaced ‘Dhami’ with ‘Dami’, removed the photos, and uploaded the song at 9 pm. At midnight, the police showed up again and took me to the police station. There, they pressured me to remove the song from all social media platforms.”

The song titled “Tin Bhi Ni Thami” called out the BJP government for rising unemployment, corruption, and crimes against women. Semwal uploaded it on July 16, featuring caricatures and images of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, visuals of Dehradun police, street protests, and news clippings related to crime. Police booked him in an FIR and later picked him up from his home following the release.

Semwal initially removed the song but re-uploaded it on July 20. Following that, an Uttarkashi resident, Manju Devi, lodged a police complaint, claiming that a line linking the increase in liquor shops to prostitution was “offensive to all women in Uttarakhand”. “The police barged into my home as if I were a terrorist. They took me and my editor to Dehradun in separate vehicles,” he said. In a viral video, Manju Devi threatened the singer: “If I see him, I will behead him.”