As the debate rages over the state action against anti-caste rapper Vedan, the voices of the survivors he allegedly abused must not be overlooked. Two of them tell TNM that Vedan has still not apologised to them personally.
Vedan, who stormed into the Malayalam hip-hop scene five years ago, was granted bail on April 30 in a case that drew public outrage. He was picked up by the Forest Department and charged under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 for possessing what appeared to be a leopard tooth. Angry voices rose over the impropriety of the case, and the state action against the Dalit rapper was widely condemned as unjust and casteist.
That this was the second case slapped on him within a week led many to question the intent of the police in “targetting” an anti-caste musician. In the first case, Vedan, along with eight others, was booked for possessing six grams of ganja. While in custody, officers noticed the pendant he was wearing, leading to the second case. He was charged under Section 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 for possessing an article allegedly made from a protected animal. But the police could not yet prove it was real and Vedan himself drew a blank. He said it was a gift from a fan at a Chennai concert, and he knew little more than that.
Allegations of attack on his identity rose after the investigation dug into his roots, linking his mother’s Sri Lankan heritage to the case, when it was found that the fan who had gifted him the pendant was of Sri Lankan origin. To many, this seemed like an attack of his Dalit identity and politics. Even the Perumbavoor First Class Magistrate, while granting him bail, observed: “While the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, serves the vital purpose of safeguarding wildlife, the principles of fairness, proportionality, and individual liberty must guide bail orders. There is a need to balance conservation efforts with the fundamental rights of an individual.”
In the absence of compelling evidence, denying bail would undermine the presumption of innocence and violate the petitioner’s right to personal liberty, the court said.
But Vedan’s story is not so easy to unravel, there are layers to peel back to truly understand the debate that has emerged around it. Beyond the questions surrounding the propriety of the cases, what complicates his story are the allegations of sexual abuse that surfaced against him four years ago. TNM has spoken to two of the survivors, whose accounts follow Vedan’s story.
Rise of Vedan
After his thundering debut called ‘Voice of the Voiceless’, Vedan quickly gained a following with his curt, telling lyrics that looked down upon caste hierarchies (“I’m not a Paanan or a Parayan Or a Pulayan. Nor are you a Thamburaan. And even if you are I don’t give a f*ck!”). The hip-hop drew young listeners to his music. Singles that followed – ‘Vaa’, ‘Social Criminal’, ‘Aana’, ‘Urangatte’ – all became popular, sung along to by a large audience.
He began rapping in feature films, and lines he rendered for Manjummel Boys, about a gang of working-class men, were widely quoted in posts supportive of Vedan: “Viyarppu thunniyitta kuppaayam/ Athil nirangal mangukilla kattaayam” (“In clothes sewn out of my sweat, the colours will never fade”). In five years, his popularity grew so much that venues in Kerala began to overflow, spilling fans into the streets outside. Even on the evening he was granted bail, the teaser for his upcoming song ‘Theruvinte Makan’ (Son of the Street) was released.
Survivors talk
But there were major falls along the way. In mid-2021, a few women spoke out about the sexual abuse they faced from him. Debates rose then, like now, with arguments torn between supporting the survivors and considering the caste location of the accused. Vedan issued a public apology in a Facebook post, but the women told TNM that he did not reach out to them personally. Four years later, he still has not, said two of the survivors we spoke to.
They are strongly opposed to the casteist attacks on Vedan now, they said, but could not agree with the claims that he had shown genuine remorse.
One of the survivors, a Muslim woman, said she could not believe Vedan was repentant when he had never apologised to her or the other survivors directly, even after she raised the issue with him. “I ran into him by accident once and told him that none of us could move on without an apology. All I wanted to hear was ‘sorry,’ but he simply walked away,” she said.
What also upset her recently, she said, was learning that he had allegedly continued to be verbally abusive towards women.
Addressing the argument about his caste location, she said that there was also a Dalit survivor among them. “What about justice for her?”
TNM had spoken to the Dalit survivor in 2021.
Anti-caste rap, arrest, and allegations of abuse: The many layers of the Vedan story
“The biggest tool to overcome reality is imagination, and in my imagination, Vedan apologises to me and the other survivors directly,” the Muslim survivor said.
Another survivor told TNM that she had not been able to come forward in 2021 when the others did, but she had wanted to speak up for some time. A young woman from the Other Backward Classes (OBC), she said she had intended to reveal her story much before the new cases surfaced. “The cause is not only against Savarna casteism but also about standing with women who are oppressed. I was sexually abused [by Vedan] for being outspokenly feminist,” she said.
She added that just because Vedan spoke out against caste, it didn’t mean that he was standing against Brahminical ideologies. “Living in a Brahminical patriarchy, which confines womanhood to merely being a second sex or gender, these kinds of sexual harassment, advances, and manipulations perpetuate the same Savarna ideology. He takes, and has, all male privileges, abusing women and lecturing them about their personal experiences.”
Referring to posts by certain progressive individuals who brought up his public apology, she asked, “Who are they to forgive Vedan? They were not the people he attacked!”
She also addressed the question of the allegations affecting his creative work. “What about our creative work? We can’t even go to spaces where he is present or has an influence,” she said. To get closure, she needs him to admit what he did to her and then apologise for it. A public apology, addressed to no one in particular, will not do, she said.
Reactions to Vedan’s cases
Agreeing with the women, poet Aleena, known for her work on caste and gender, said that gender justice must be anti-caste and Dalit politics should not be patriarchal. “I believe we need a more honest, nuanced conversation around Vedan’s case that goes beyond the binary thinking of caste and gender violence. The caste violence he’s experiencing doesn’t cancel out the sexual harassment allegations, and vice versa, because these often reinforce and uphold each other,” she told TNM.
Anti-caste rap, arrest, and allegations of abuse: The many layers of the Vedan story
“The same casteist, patriarchal state machinery is against both survivors and Vedan. Because of that, we must hold space for survivor narratives and resist the casteist violence of the state. These are not opposing positions. Rather, confronting both is essential,” Aleena said.
Dalit historian and activist Malavika Binny, who had spoken against Savarna-centric politics in the attack of Vedan, also expressed solidarity with the survivors. “The support that was given to Vedan in the narcotics case is based on the need to interrogate the double standards of law with regards to oppressor-oppressed castes. Consent violation and consent manipulation are serious issues, they need to be addressed.”
She drew parallels with the civil rights movement in the US when Black feminist scholars pointed out the problem of silencing female activists who were sexually abused by prominent male activists in the movement. Progressive people thought that such allegations would slow down the movement. “It is comparatively easier in Kerala’s political climate to fight caste than fight gender inequality as men and women across castes benefit from Brahmanical patriarchy. The fight for intersectional gender equality is a tougher fight, but an equally signficant fight and the survivors should not feel alone in this fight.”
In an earlier post, Malavika stated that there is a crucial need to ensure that the talent and politics of the young rapper were not wasted, either because of drugs or because of Savarna-centric politics.
A lot of the criticism against Vedan’s cases, especially the second one, stemmed from the hastiness with which they were filed, a stark contrast to how similar cases involving bigger celebrities are often handled. While some appreciated the need to control drug use, synthetic or otherwise, many see the state’s focus on the users rather than the suppliers as a senseless approach. Those caught before Vedan — actor Shine Tom Chacko, filmmakers Khalid Rahman, and Ashraf Hamza — were, in the eyes of the critics, easy targets.
Was Vedan too an easy target?
“No Maala Parvathi will come and vouch for Vedan’s professionalism. Neither will he be given an option out. But I do also feel that he should have been more responsible. Ambedkarites do have that additional burden to preserve their energy and talent for social revolution, rather than waste it away,” Malavika stated.
The reference to Maala Parvathi, the actor, is about her support for Shine Tom Chacko after he was arrested for alleged substance abuse.
The second case against Vedan, brought under the Forest Department, even invited criticism from a retired head of forest force in Kerala. Gopinath Vallil called out the “great injustice to Vedan,” comparing the “haste and drama” of his arrest with the laxity of action in another case involving elephant tusks (in which superstar Mohanlal was accused).
Dalit research scholar Dinu Veyil stated that, internationally, modern democracies believe that special attention should be given to those from vulnerable communities when they are brought before the law. “Here, it is not even that such special consideration should be given to Vedan because he comes from a Dalit community. On the contrary, he was denied the natural justice deserved by any person, because of his Dalit identity.”
Dinu pointed out that, normally, immediate arrests are made in situations where the accused may flee, may try to tamper with evidence, or may be at risk of harming themselves or others. “But here, the Forest Department should answer why there was a need for Vedan’s immediate arrest when it was stated that he was cooperating with the investigation,” he added.
Dinu also questioned the [racist] insinuation that Vedan’s mother’s Sri Lankan roots played a role in the crime.
Lawyer and activist Harish Vasudevan explained, with examples, why it is pointless to apply in Vedan’s case the argument that everyone is equal before the law. Dalits, who have long endured the injustice of being landless, cannot take advantage of law the way a privileged caste member can. “The law does not affect everyone in the same way. One should grasp the social reality of our state before making such naive statements,” he said.
Even ministers from the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) were among those voicing support for Vedan. Forest Minister AK Saseendran stated that Vedan was a politically aware, talented artist, and it was unfortunate that the case had been blown out of proportion. Minister R Bindu hailed his music against caste and social inequalities and posted a part of his song ‘Social Criminal’.
The ruling party’s parliamentarian, John Brittas, went so far as to call the Forest Department’s action against Vedan “pure rascality and nonsense.”
Anti-caste rap, arrest, and allegations of abuse: The many layers of the Vedan story
Dinu Veyil addressed the ministers who came in support of Vedan and asked them about the state’s opposition to Vedan’s bail plea just a day earlier, expressing doubts about his credibility, his chances of leaving town, and tampering with the evidence. “All accused people deserve natural justice. In India, Dalits and Adivasis have historically been denied this. In the old days, their hands were dipped in hot oil as a test of their innocence. Today we will not allow you to do that to Vedan.”
Courtesy: The News Minute
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