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 gang activity, and the Indian central government banned songs valorizing Sikh militancy. This paper proposes that despite differing ethical contents, these two genres mutually draw on widespread Punjabi concerns with patronage politics. Using ethnography conducted with armed criminals, Sikh nationalist militants, and songwriters linked to both, this paper examines how Punjabi musical discourse about corruption — illicit but not necessarily illegal patronage networks — connects distinct musics and publics. 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.