Hawaon Mein Jawaab Milega: Zanana Ensemble’s Viral Musical Protest

A musical protest at Shaheen Bagh by intersectional and inclusive crew called the ‘Zanana Ensemble’ has gone viral

“Hawaon mein, yaaron, jawaab milega,
Fizaon mein, jawaab milega.”

These lines sung in protest at Shaheen Bagh by the newly-formed Zanana Ensemble have gone viral on social media. As videos of their debut performance continue to get shared widely across the country, the group, which is inclusive to gender-fluid and LGBTQIA+ people, has gone on to perform at sit-in protests at several locations in Delhi.

In case you haven’t seen it yet (or if you want to watch it again), here’s the video of their performance at Shaheen Bagh.

‘Trolls Won’t Stop Us’

Since their performance at Shaheen Bagh, the group has been at the receiving end of vitriolic and hateful comments on social media by right-wing trolls — with numerous tweets targeting ensemble member Sanjukta Basu.

Dear trolls, calling me ugly will not stop me from opposing Modi or calling out RSS or anything I do. So don't work for free. Make sure you are paid for the trolling by bjp IT cell. pic.twitter.com/YEEPhIQM8G

— Sanjukta Basu (@sanjukta) January 27, 2020

Reacting to the hate received from some quarters and the support and solidarity from others, Basu wrote on Facebook on Monday, 27 January, “The Zanana Ensemble by Mallika Taneja is merely 8 days old. We only met last Sunday (19 January). After 4 days of rehearsal, we debuted on 24th at Shaheen Bagh and that debut has gone viral both on right and left wing social media. Right wing Twitter handles like Rabies, Rishi Bagree, Ashok Pandit, Ishita Yadav have done a hit job unleashing filthiest abuse. Same time all the popular left lib sec pages also talking about us. What a debut.”

Here’s a video of ensemble performing ‘Zanana Ka Zamana’ at JNU.

They have also performed at the protest in Jamia as well.