By M L Satyan

Coimbatore, July 17, 2025: Vedan, a young Rap singer has become popular in Kerala after his songs titled: “Voice of Voiceless” were released. I listened to many of his songs in Malayalam and Tamil.

His words are true and he sings his songs with real energy, courage and conviction. He is a bold prophet of our days. His main focus is on the voiceless communities who have been oppressed, exploited and suppressed for ages in India. Who are they?

SC/ST Communities: The scheduled caste and scheduled tribe people have been socially and economically backward for many years. Religion and politics have contributed to their backward status. Even today many of them are not on the mainstream. They are deprived of their rights to basic necessities of life – food, clothes, shelter, health and education. They live without human dignity.

Farming society: It is reported that between 1998 and 2018, around three lakh farmers committed suicide in our country, often by drinking pesticides themselves. (Sainath P. “India’s agrarian crisis has gone beyond the agrarian”). Farmer suicides have increased alarmingly. They feel ashamed to live in the midst of their friends and relatives for the crop failure and their inability to repay the loans. They live by and die in the agricultural fields believing in mother earth. Farmers always proved that they are real patriots as they valued the duty to pay back nation’s money as higher than their living.

Student community: During 2019-2020 India has witnessed the ‘worst attacks’ on the university students in various parts of the country. The police force was used as an instrument in all these attacks. Atrocities on students continue to happen in various universities. Higher education of thousands of students has become a question mark. They are still in darkness. Moreover, the Hindutva philosophies are forced upon the school/college/university curriculum. Today’s education system is playing with the lives of students.

Unemployed: According to the India Employment Report 2024, created jointly by the Institute for Human Development and the International Labour Organisation (ILO), India’s working population increased from 61 percent in 2011 to 64 percent in 2021, and it is projected to reach 65 percent in 2036. However, the percent of youth involved in economic activities declined to 37 percent in 2022. Continued vigilance and effective policy measures remain crucial to foster sustainable job growth and secure the nation’s future prosperity. The unemployment rate in India stood at 5.6% in June 2025, unchanged from the previous month. Jobless rate went down in rural areas from 5.1% in May to 4.9% in June, while in urban areas, it went up from 6.9% to 7.1%. Modi government’s promise of jobs to unemployed youth has always remained empty.

Religious Minorities: In February 2020 northeast Delhi witnessed riots caused chiefly by Hindu mobs against Muslims. Plumes of dark air went up into the skies as hundreds of houses were looted and burnt, markets turned into ashes, people killed and maimed, homes and mosques vandalised and businesses lost. It attracted massive international attention as the signifier of what was unfolding on India’s capital at a time when US President and the Indian Prime Minister were “discussing geo-politics in another part of the city”. Leaders celebrated while Delhi burnt! Attacks on churches and Christian communities have alarmingly increased during Modi’s tenure. Religious minorities, the socially and economically backward communities live in constant fear.

Girl children and women: “Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao” became a meaningless jargon long back. People in power are rarely bothered about the increasing child sexual abuses, child trafficking, unending rapes and increasing gender discriminations. During the lockdown ‘online sex trade’ had become a booming business. The number of liquor shops, sale of illicit liquor, domestic atrocities on women and children have increased. Human Rights Commission has been a silent observer.

Rural people: One Tamil TV channel showed a remote village in Tamil Nadu where the people walk 3 km to fetch water. A newspaper in Bengaluru carried a news about an interior village near Chikmagalur where people carry the body of a diseased person for 2 km to cremate.

The reason is that there is no road and hence no vehicle can go to that village. The petitions of the villagers to the government have gone into the dustbin. If such situations prevail in southern states, what about the northern states? Even after 77 years of Independence, there is still no electricity, potable water, road and public transport in many villages of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha. Where is “Sabka Vikas”?

Migrant workers: Migration, both internal and international, is a profound and multifaceted phenomenon in India, driven by economic, social, and political factors. With approximately 453.6 million internal migrants constituting 37% of the population, the migration trend significantly impacts India’s urbanization and economic growth. Migrants contribute to labour markets, drive economic development, and enhance local economies through remittances. However, migrant workers face the following challenges:
• Lack of social security and health benefits and poor implementation of minimum safety standards law
• Lack of portability of state-provided benefits especially food provided through the public distribution system (PDS)
• Lack of access to affordable housing and basic amenities in urban areas
• Poor implementation of protections under the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, 1979 (ISMW Act)

Loss of innocent lives: Thousands of innocent people lost their lives due to the mismanagement of Covid-19. Air/Rail/Road accidents claim the lives people every day. All these accidents are caused by improper infrastructure. Common people continue to die due to regular stampedes which are the results of poor or lack of government machineries.

Jargons like Achhe Din Aayenge; Sabka Saath–Sabka Vikas-Sabka Vishwas; Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao; Swachh Bharat; Make in India, Ayushman and Jan Dhan etc. remained empty words and promises.

The political leaders tell us: “Pay taxes, stay silent, be patriotic.” Anyone who fails to observe these instructions is branded “anti-national.” Religious leaders continue to preach: “Pray, pay and obey.” Anyone who fails to do these is “excommunicated.” Let us arise, awake and become the voice of the voiceless.