Sidhu Moose Wala’s SYL song removed from YouTube on government’s complaint, know what was the reason

YouTube has removed a viral song video in India released after the murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala following a complaint from the government. The song “SYL” talks about the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal that has been the cause of a long-running water dispute between the late Sikh singer’s home state Punjab and neighboring Haryana. The track, released posthumously on Thursday, also deals with other sensitive topics such as the deadly 1984 riots targeting the Sikh community in India and the army’s attack on an important Sikh temple in Amritsar in the same year.

The song amassed nearly 30 million views and 3.3 million likes on the singer’s YouTube page before it was removed over the weekend. A message posted on the link to the song stated that “this content is not available on domains in this country due to a legal complaint by the government.” Although the song is still available in other countries.

In an email to AFP, a YouTube spokesperson said it had only removed the song “after a thorough review of local laws and our terms of service”. The government did not immediately respond to inquiries. Local media reports stated that Moose Wala’s family termed the removal of the song as “wrong” and appealed to the government to withdraw the complaint.

Let us tell you that Moose Wala, also known as Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, was shot dead in his car in the northern state of Punjab last month. The 28-year-old was a popular singer among Punjabi communities in India and abroad, especially in Canada and the UK. His death sparked anger and outrage among fans around the world. Last week, Indian police arrested three people accused of killing Moose Wala and seized a cache of weapons, including a grenade launcher. He was said to have been criticized for promoting gun culture through his song videos.