Singer Mangli, a playback singer Telangana who is popular for her songs in Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo, Roberrt and other films was recently targeted for her Bonalu song 2021. As per reports, some BJP members filed a complaint against her at Rachakonda police station in Telangana for her allegedly 'derogatory' and insulting lyrics about goddess Maisamma.
Maisamma is a deity worshipped by villagers. In her song, Mangli wrote, 'Chettu chuttu memu thiruguthunte.. Chethuletthi mokkuthunte… Mokkina varam iyyakunda Mothavaari laaga koosunavamma’, which loosely translates to While we make rounds around your deity, and pray with our hands raised, you have been sitting like a village elder without answering to our prayers, according to a report by TNM.
Who Is Singer Mangli?
The singer born with the name Satyavathi Rathore is famously known as Mangli. She reportedly belongs to a banjara community and can speak her native language Lambadi. The people of the Lambadi community are categorised as Scheduled Tribes. She started her musical career in 2013 and in 2018 she got her first break as a playback singer in the film Shailaja Reddy Alludu.
A police complaint was filed against her in Telangana after she released her songs for the month-long festival Bonalu (celebrated in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana).
The controversy:
The complaint against Mangli was registered by BJP members after a social media objecting to Mangli's lyrics was flagged by Kiranmai also known as RJ Kiran. After the police complaint and the outrage against her on social media platforms, Mangli had to change the lyrics of her song and upload a new one. She also made posts on social media asserting her hindu identity.
She wrote, "I do not come from a family of scholars . I am a woman from a Girijana community who worship trees and mounds. Like the Batukamma and Bonalu festivals, we worship nature in our Banjara during the Teej and Sheetala (Sati Bhavani) festivals.
"Whether we are in trouble or happy, we share our feelings with our village deities whom we worship. We see them as members of our household. The offerings we make to our gods are what we eat and what we drink."
Mangli also clarified that the lyrics of the song being criticised comes from a folk song written by Rama Swamy almost 25 years ago. According to her, the 300 songs written about Rama Swamy are Ninda Sthuti, a kind of worship where the goddess is blamed. Many members of the Dalit and Bahijan community came in support of Singer Mangli as they tweeted with the hashtag #ISupportMangli
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