'Pagal Haina', the record label that manages Lifafa aka Suryakant Sawhney, announced that they would take down the musician's track Mandir for featuring Hashback Hashish, who was accused of assault in May 2020.
In a message released on social media, the record label wrote, "This is with respect to statements and comments made regarding Lifafa's track Mandir featuring Hashback Hashish (a known abuser)."
"We would like to apologise to Uvika and other survivors for the pain and trauma this has triggered. This most certainly was not our intention. As Lifafa’s management, we realise a larger and more sensitive conversation should have been had about the release of this track. We acknowledge our part in the suffering caused and take responsibility for it."Pagal Haina, Instagram
The decision came after the social media criticism, that followed a statement Uvika shared on Instagram, which said that Lifafa and Rana Ghose (Reproduce Artists) were featuring a known abuser, i.e. Hashback Hashish (Ashish Sachan), on their track. Uvika went public with her accusations against Ashish in May 2020.
Following that, other survivors detailed their allegations against the artiste involving physical and sexual abuse. In her statement, she also added that Lifafa and Reproduce Artists had publicly announced that they wouldn't engage with Ashish professionally.
Lifafa was Made Aware of the Abuse in 2018: Uvika
On her Instagram stories, Uvika had revealed that Lifafa had reached out to her in October 2018 asking if she had been abused by Ashish, her former partner. She had, at the time, confirmed the same.
"Clearly none of their actions are motivated by concern for survivor or contributing to a better culture because if they were, they would be able to exercise enough empathy to realise that sacrificing some of your hard work is a fair trade off, at least to me, if the converse means that someone out there is reliving their trauma because of work you created that you could've totally avoided."Uvika, Instagram
In her statement she addressed Lifafa's 'rationalization' of releasing the song, and wrote, "His rationalization to others for releasing the song has been that it was created before he was made aware of the abuse. Not only is this deeply reflective of how little he cares about creating a safe environment for survivors, it is also inaccurate since we now know I privately told him about the abuse in October 2018 and he had gone on to work with Hashback Hashish, seemingly unbothered by what he had learned."
Lifafa AKA Suryakant Sawhney's Statement
A few days after Uvika's post, Lifafa issued a statement addressing the issue.
"Hashback Hashish is named on the track Mandir because he is legally entitled to be so. He as part of the creation of that song in early 2018 - whatever little % it may be. Most importantly, it was prior to the 2020 public allegations made against him which is when links were severed and continue to be so. I simply chose to be transparent about the origins of the song - not in fact "promote" him," the statement read.
"I addressed this in the description of the Mandir video when it came out in Dec 2020 where I also stated that his share of the royalties would be donated to an organisation dealing with women's violence. To me, this was the actual way to go about restorative justice. In hindsight, what I did not consider is that simply seeing his name on old work could trigger his assault victims. And for this oversight, I am sorry."
He then went on to say that Rana Ghose (Reproduce Artists) has 'singularly attempted to create the safe spaces that others theorise. He added that his involvement with the Mandir video doesn't undo his life's work. He also defended 'Pagal Haina', and said that he has conducted his career with 'honesty, integrity, and dedication'.
"So I find it particularly ridiculous and hurtful that a small internet mob believes it has the right to malign and attempt to - yes "cancel" - these hard earned reputations over a crime, NONE of us, actually committed."Lifafa, aka Suryakant, Instagram
He then detailed the conversation he'd had with Uvika adding that, since Uvika had 'made peace' with the incident, he chose to give Ashish the benefit of the doubt. He further said that he broke ties with Ashish only after more survivors came out with allegations against Ashish.
In the next portion of his statement, Lifafa explained his reasons for releasing the song. "I spent 3 years of my life working on it to bring it out, and I don't believe that mistakes someone else made should force me to shelve that work of mine."
The description under the song Mandir, which Lifafa refers to, reads, "The song was produced prior to allegations against Hashback Hashish. A part of his share of the royalties will be redirected towards an organisation dealing with violence against women. As for the morality of this song existing, such is the world."
His statement was further criticised for being self-serving and lacking accountability. He then posted a statement announcing that the song and video would be taken down.
"As late as this might be, I want to offer an unconditional apology to the survivors and others for not doing right by them, and for going about this in what I know now was both insensitive and callous. I will be taking down both the video and the song."
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