The song "Rebel Warrior" appeared on British musical group Asian Dub Foundation's 1995 debut album, Facts and Fictions, and also on the group's fourth album, Community Music, under a slightly different arrangement. The song was inspired by the poem Bidrohi, translated from Bengali as "The Rebel", and written by Kazi Nazrul during the 1920s.
Kazi Nazrul was a Bengali poet, patriot and composer during the end of the colonial era in India who supported Indian unity.[1] Nazrul wrote Bidrohi as a call to arms for those who were oppressed in India by the British and a call for unity between Muslims and Hindus. The poem politically and metaphorically called for Indians to oppose British colonialism, by physically taking the government back and by mentally removing the imitation of British ideals and ideas from the country and returning to more traditional ways. His poem was the first aggressive poem published against colonialism and it was immediately successful and popular with both Muslims and Hindus. In his quest to unify India, Nazrul attempted to make Hindus and Muslims overlook their internal issues with each other and instead fight against the British. Kazi Nazrul went on to write more poems, as well as the first Bengali protest music, though he was later arrested for his outspoken beliefs, becoming one of the most important men in the Indian independence movement.[2]
Asian Dub Foundation roughly translated the original text of Bidrohi on their track "Rebel Warrior" and used the song to support a modern take on Nazrul's original stance. The poem was chosen in part because of its significance to the Indian independence movement and because of its place in Indian traditional culture and its powerful and unifying lyrics. It speaks out against neo-colonialism, both in England and South Asia, while also expanding the message to oppose modern racism in post-colonial England and the Western world in general.[3]
The lyrics, primarily derived from the original poem, advocate for a forceful stance against the dominance of Western hegemony, urging individuals to confront and resist racism through active opposition, even suggesting the dismantling of the Western empire. This sentiment closely aligns with Nazrul's initial call to arms against colonialism, advocating for direct resistance. Furthermore, the song articulates that overcoming racism entails bridging cultural divides, employing the metaphor of the siren and flute to argue that such separations are psychological rather than inherent. The rendition by Asian Dub Foundation extends the reach of the original message to a broader Western audience, utilizing a fusion of modern hip-hop and South Asian musical elements. It serves not only as a musical adaptation but also as a means of reinforcing South Asian identity by echoing historical challenges against oppression.[4]
^Sanjay Sharma: Noisy Asians of Asian Noise. in Disorienting Rhythms: The Politics of the New Asian Dance Music. Ed. Sanjay Sharma, John Hutnyk, Ashwani Sharma. Zet Books 1996, pp. 32-57.
