New Delhi: Bhojpuri folk singer Neha Singh Rathore has been booked by the Uttar Pradesh police for her social media posts that criticise the government after the Pahalgam terror attack. According to the FIR, the singer from Hazratganj in Lucknow is accused of affecting national integrity and inciting crime against another community on the basis of religion and caste.
“How can asking questions be treasonous? I am surprised by this. Questioning your government cannot be treason. If we are living in a dictatorship, then the government should tell us,” Rathore, famous for her 2022 song ‘UP Mein Ka Ba‘ told ThePrint.
Four days after the terror attack on 26 April, she uploaded a series of videos on X saying that Pahalgam would be used by the BJP-led government politically in the run-up to the Bihar elections later this year.
“BJP is working to weaken the country. Isn’t India’s Hindu-Muslim agenda weakening the country? This is what the terrorists want,” she said in another clip.
According to Rathore many Pakistani social handles used her video, due to which she is being targeted.
“Social media has no limits. I have not protested in the video but have asked questions. In such a situation, if the neighbouring country used it for its own benefit, then it is not my fault,” she said.
In the video, she also questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi for holding a rally in Bihar two days after the attack where he said that India would identify and punish the terrorists and their backers.
“Why did the Prime Minister need to hold a rally in Bihar to threaten the terrorists immediately after the attack?” she asked in the video.
Based on a complaint by a Lucknow resident, Abhay Pratap Singh, who describes himself as a “national poet” in the document, the police lodged an FIR against Rathore. She’s been booked under 11 sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita (BNS) including 196(1)(a) and (b) for promoting hatred and enmity between different groups based on religion, race and language; 353(2) circulating false statements; 302 for offenses related to religion; 152 endangering the sovereignty and unity of India as well as 353(1)(c) for inciting ‘public mischief’ and criminal activity.
“Until now, I have not received a call from any official regarding the FIR filed against me. Whatever information I have is only from social media,” she said.
Also Read: Neha Singh Rathore: How ‘not-so-confident’ poet began singing truth to power with Bhojpuri rap
Last Rs 500 for tabla player, not lawyer
But Rathore has become the centre of a social media storm, with many users targeting her for her comments.
“The BJP IT cell is trolling me with full force…abusing me…calling me a traitor so that I become weak, but this will never happen. I am not afraid of the crowd of blind devotees. I will not stop asking questions. I am more concerned about India than the BJP,” Rathore posted on X.
बीजेपी आईटी सेल पूरी ताक़त से मुझे ट्रोल कर रहा है…गालियाँ दे रहा है…ग़द्दार कह रहा है…ताकि मैं कमज़ोर पड़ जाऊँ…लेकिन ऐसा कभी नहीं होगा.
मैं अंधभक्तों की भीड़ से नहीं डरती हूँ.
मैं सवाल पूछना नहीं बंद करूँगी.
मुझे भाजपा से ज़्यादा भारत की चिंता है.
जय हिन्द.जय भारत.🫡🇮🇳
— Neha Singh Rathore (@nehafolksinger) April 27, 2025
She also appealed for help in finding a lawyer to fight her case.
“I don’t have money to pay the lawyer’s fees. I have only Rs 519 in my ICICI bank account, out of which I will pay Rs 500 to the tabla player and record the new song tomorrow,” she wrote.
Rathore also posted a video reciting a poem by Hindi poet Rajesh Joshi — Jo is pagalpan me shamil nahi honge, maare jayenge (Those who will not join this madness will be killed).
This is not Rathore’s first run-in with the police. In February 2023, Uttar Pradesh police lodged an FIR against her over her song ‘UP Mein Ka Ba Part 2′, in which she criticised the BJP government over an eviction drive in Kanpur Dehat, which led to the deaths of two women in a fire.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)