Lucknow: Popular Bhojpuri singer Neha Singh Rathore, who has courted controversy earlier with her satirical political songs, has landed in trouble again.
Neha has been booked on sedition charges following for an alleged ‘objectionable’ post on social media in which she attacked the Narendra Modi government, saying that last week’s Pahalgam terror attack was an intelligence and security failure on the part of ruling dispensation.
An FIR was filed against Neha in Lucknow based on a complaint by Abhay Pratap Singh, who accused Neha of making “anti-national statements” and fuelling communal tensions. Her video, following the Pahalgam massacre, were seen as “provocative” and potentially damaging to India’s unity.
The FIR also says that Neha’s “anti-national” comments have gone viral in Pakistan, where she is being praised for attacking the Modi government. “All these anti-national statements of Neha Singh Rathore are being used against India in the Pakistani media,” the FIR states, adding that she has continuously shared videos on social media, raising questions on the death of 26 innocent people in Baisaran valley on April 22.
An X handle, run by a Pakistani journalists’ group, shared her video in which she claimed the Indian PM will now be seeking votes ahead of the Bihar Assembly election in the name of Pahalgam attack, just like after the 2019 Pulwama terror attack.
In a video posted on April 25, Neha said that the person (referring to Modi) who could bring a halt to the (Russia-Ukraine) war could not avert a terrorist attack in his own country.
“What should I question the government about? Issues of education and health are no longer relevant. People are being killed despite the politics of nationalism and Hindu-Muslim is at its peak in the country,” Neha said in her video message.
Slamming the PM, saying that despite the 56-inch chest, a term often used to refer to bold decisions taken by the government, people are getting killed. “Should I question Mohammad Ali Jinnah?”
In another video she shared on April 27, Neha questioned how the authorities can call her a traitor, posing more questions for the government.
पूरी भाजपा के नेताओं के जितने बच्चे फ़ौज में होंगे…उससे ज़्यादा तो मेरे अपने परिवार के लोग सेना में अपनी जान दाँव पर लगा चुके हैं…
…लेकिन आज भाजपा का आईटी सेल मुझे देशद्रोही कह रहा है क्योंकि मैं बिना डरे सवाल पूछती हूँ.
प्रधानमंत्री से सवाल पूछना देशद्रोह है क्या?… pic.twitter.com/t6ImAbbZpX
— Neha Singh Rathore (@nehafolksinger) April 27, 2025
Neha was served a police notice in 2023 over her song ‘UP Me Ka Ba- Season 2’ for criticising the Yogi Adityanath-headed UP government over the death of a mother-daughter duo in Kanpur Dehat during an eviction drive.
She was also booked over her social media post on an incident in Madhya Pradesh where a man urinated on a tribal.
Neha, who launched her YouTube channel in May 2020 to highlight the plight of migrant workers during the COVID-19 lockdown, became popular with her song ‘UP Mein Ka Ba’, following the success of ‘Bihar Mein Ka Ba’.
Neha focuses on social issues like unemployment, corruption, dowry and politics through her folk music.
