BJP faces social media backlash for using Pakistani song in promotional reel

WEB DESK: India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has come under fire on social media after using a Pakistani song in a promotional video showcasing the Mumbai-Pune Missing Link infrastructure project, with critics accusing the party of double standards over its longstanding anti-Pakistan rhetoric.

The BJP’s official X account shared a short video showcasing the infrastructure project with the caption: “POV: You’re witnessing India’s next infrastructure marvel. Ft. the Mumbai–Pune Missing Link.”

The video used “Safar” by Bayaan, a Lahore-based Pakistani alternative rock band, as its background track.

The choice of music quickly drew criticism from Indian social media users, who questioned why the BJP had used Pakistani music while Pakistani artists and entertainment content have faced restrictions.

Congress-linked users were among those who criticised the BJP post, with some turning the party’s own rhetoric against it.

Vijay Thottathil wrote on X that the “relation between BJP & Pakistan” was “heart touching” enough for the party to use a Pakistani song to showcase an infrastructure project, while asking why it had not chosen an Indian song.

Congress leader Lavanya Ballal Jain also questioned the BJP’s choice of music, writing: “by your own logic Now you are an anti-national. Didn’t you find an Indian song? Did you have to choose a Pakistani song?”

Other users similarly accused the BJP of hypocrisy, pointing to the contrast between its use of Pakistani music and the restrictions faced by Pakistani artists and musicians seeking to work or perform in India.

One user wrote that Pakistani music had been banned in India while artists from both countries faced backlash over cross-border collaboration, questioning the BJP’s decision to use a Pakistani track in its own promotional material.

Another user accused the party of “selling anti-Pakistan narrative” while using Pakistani songs on its social media platforms.

The controversy comes against a broader backdrop of strained cultural ties between India and Pakistan, with music, films and artists from the two countries repeatedly becoming caught up in political tensions.

The criticism also highlights the contrast between the BJP’s use of Pakistan-related rhetoric in domestic politics and the appeal of Pakistani popular culture among audiences on both sides of the border.

The BJP video was promoting the Mumbai-Pune Missing Link, a major road infrastructure project designed to bypass the steep and accident-prone section of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. The 13.3-kilometre project includes tunnels, viaducts and a cable-stayed bridge over Tiger Valley and was inaugurated in May.

The project includes a 650-metre-long viaduct featuring a 182-metre-high pylon, making it India’s tallest road cable-stayed bridge, according to project developer Afcons Infrastructure.

The BJP’s promotional post had attracted hundreds of thousands of views on X, but much of the ensuing discussion focused not on the infrastructure project but on the use of the Pakistani song.