Divine and Sinful Patrons: Sikh Militancy, Musical Media, and Supply Chain Corruption

Two genres of Punjabi popular song were recently banned by different governments: the Punjab state government banned songs valorizing armed gang activity, and the Indian central government banned songs valorizing Sikh militancy. This paper proposes that despite differing ethical contents, these two sets of songs are each tied to widespread Punjabi concerns with patronage politics. Drawing on ethnography conducted with armed criminals, Sikh nationalist militants, and songwriters linked to both of the above, this paper examines how Punjabi musical discourse about corruption — illicit but not necessarily illegal patronage networks — connects distinct genres and publics. Recent Punjabi protests against agricultural logistics policy and assassinations of musicians color everyday discourse across very different swathes of the Punjabi population. Quotidian Punjabi conversations about state capture by logistics companies tie national-level politics to the murder of local musicians. This paper details how both Sikh militant songs and Punjabi popular songs valorizing violent criminality are concurrent critical responses to state patronage networks, which many Punjabis view as “corruption,” and a lack of state support for the general public — also dubbed “corruption.” Replacement patronage networks described in these songs, whether in nostalgia for the Sikh Empire or in fantasies of personal gain, are sung alternatives to a government whose resources are depicted as corrupted by transnational logistics companies. This paper demonstrates that ostensible technocratic governance of the supply chain permeates discourses of criminal patronage, whether in songs valorizing smalltime mafia bosses, songs valorizing Sikh militancy against “criminal states,” or state censorship of both.