A celebrated Punjabi singer, Amar Singh Chamkila, was killed on March 8, 1988, together with his wife, Amarjot Kaur, and two other people. Nevertheless, it has been 36 years since his life was taken and yet the circumstance of this murder is still unsolved.
The Start of Chamkila’s Musical Coursing.
Ludhiana where Chamkila had a humble upbringing was the origin of him beginning the work in a cloth factory at a very young age. Nevertheless, it was his dream to turn into a big time singer. He was blessed with the talent of singing songs and he sought the help and guidance of a guru who later played a crucial role in his success. Amarjot’s songs were liked by many of his audiences, and he became a super hit singer of that time, which made his guru, Surinder Shinda very happy and who also named him Amarjot Kaur.
Chamkila’s Rise to Fame
Chamkila’s first album which came in 1980 was a riot of success and he became a popular and a house name in Punjab. In the first album Sansar, he teamed up with Surinder Sonia, and those songs were hits in the Punjab wrestling rings. After a while, Chamkila and Amarjot Kaur stepped out on the stage together and received a great reception from the audience.
Time of each controversial song made by Chamkila.
Chamkila`s songs did not remain unnoticed. And, unfortunately, they were accused of vulgarity. He faced protesters demanding to him to stop his work and even some separatists called him an obscenity promoter. Nevertheless, Chamkila went on and kept on delivering.
The Fatal Attack
On 8 March 1986, the young and emerging folk musicians – Chamkila and Amarjot Kaur were shot dead in a hail of bullets while stepping out of their vehicle in Muktsar area of the state of Punjab. Meanwhile, their drummer, Baldev Singh, too, was killed, along with their friend, Harjit Singh Gil, the two other victims. Another of their friends, Onkar Singh Nanjra, managed to survive as he got shot on his arm, but was left paralysed. The endpoint Yanis cleared away his clothes and left a fatal mark on Chamkila’s body for a message intimidation of resistance for such songs but still he didn’t listen.
The Unsolved Murder Mystery
However, three decades and six months later, the puzzledness over of the Chamkila kill drama is still the same. The police zeroed in on the possibility of separatist involvement, but there was no firm evidence to support such suspicion. from Adversity to Resilience There is a myriad ways his murder can be interpreted, one of them being, that cousins of Baldev Singh wanted to damage the relationship Baldev Singh had with Amarjot Kaur, as she was above the caste he was from. Nevertheless, the hypotheses can not be verified by the research.
Legacy of Chamkila is a real gem that live and still remembered for what he has left for Panjabi music.
Till today, music of Chamkila survives and his fans still remember him as the legendary singer but was borncexecuted asopposed to tortured . Through his songs which were previously labeled to be many notches down, he is now acclaimed as a pioneer of the Punjabi musicscape. However, the subject of his songs as well as fact that he was killed in a mysterious shootout may be the part of the controversy behind his songs and talent as a Punjabi music artist.
Conclusion
Till date, the mystery of Amar Singh Chamkila’s murder remains unsolved, as his ever-devoted fans mourn his death. The kind of songs he was trying to introduce was considered indecent and questionable at that time, but now, they are considered a musical heritage of Punjab. Police was unable to take action and the case is unsolved even now. Chamkila is always remembered with love by his fans.
