New Delhi: Santhanam Srinivasan Iyer aka EPR is known for his raps that give social messages. Youth icon, who believes in protest poetry, took a jab at communal tensions in the country in his latest rap on MTV Hustle. In his latest rap song, EPR talked about the controversial ‘sar tan se juda’ slogan and the recent killing of Kanhaiyalal, a Hindu tailor in Udaipur.
He shared a video clip of his performance on his social media account and it went viral on the internet. In the caption, the rapper wrote, “Bachao mere desh ko kattarwad ke bhoot se! The soul of Indian culture is unity & peace. Extremism has no place whatsoever.” While, in another post, he quoted Martin Luther King Jr and wrote, “Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.”
He used the platform to spread a message about communal extremism and rapped, “Bahane kapde silwane ke, they split his head across; Police ki laparwahi in murder prevention, dhamkiyan ignored–communal tensions.”
In his earlier raps, EPR has picked up issues like farmers’ suicide, Gauri Lankesh and her killing, communal politics and other socio-political issues. The artivist (an informal term for activist plus artist) got fame after the first season of MTV Hustle and is now a Squad Boss on the reality show MTV Hustle’s Season 2.
Tailor Kanhaiyalal was murdered by two men at his shop. Allegedly, the men did not like the fact that the tailor supported Nupur Sharma, the suspended BJP MLA, who made statements about Prophet Mohammad on television. The murder was a result of communal extremism and hatred.