(From left) Jim Ankan Deka, Parmita Borah and Ritwika Bhattacharya at the launch of the music video

Calcutta, June 30: In times of one rape news a day, and sometimes more, Assamese musician Jim Ankan Deka has created a music video asking people to speak up against sexual violence.

The catalyst — the Delhi bus gang rape — and his driving force, the motto that music has the power to communicate what words often fail to do.

Bangalore-based Deka, the director of the Eastern Fare Music Foundation, is hopeful that his effort, Aawaz, will ensure that at least some people raise their voices. “We want to create an awareness among people to speak up. Hence, the name Aawaz,” he said.

And the musician has a wide target audience.

“I composed the song for the victim of the Delhi gang rape. Though I initially thought of making it an Assamese song, later my friends persuaded me to make it a bilingual song. Hence, the song has both Hindi as well as Assamese lyrics,” he added.

Ritwika Bhattacharya and Antara Nandy sang the first two stanzas respectively and the last part is by Queen Hazarika in Assamese. Parmita Borah has directed the video.

The song was recorded at Eastern Fare Studio and Madcat Music Studio in Bangalore and Sargam Audiocraft, Guwahati. Involving artistes across India, the project released yesterday at a ceremony at the Eastern Fare Music Foundation, Bangalore.

Apart from the artistes, the people involved in the project are Vicky Goswami, Pankaj Rajkhowa, Pratik Nalawade, Pruthvi R, Antara Barua and Rachel Rose Oommen (child artiste).

The animation part is by Bangalore-based artist Mohd Siraj Mahagavin.

“The public outcry over the Delhi gang rape was reported widely in the media. Unfortunately, spot-fixing scams and incompetent politicos have taken over the national media again.We figured the need of the hour is to remind law enforcers and media that public memory is not so short-lived,” says Parmita Borah, who directed the video.

The project also covered other aspects like child sexual abuse and marital rape. The video will include three short stories with live video and animation, dealing with violence against single as well as married women and child abuse.

“One of the accepted notions about the youth of today is that they are just a bunch of consumerism driven self-centred people who just know to sip cappuccinos and play games on their iPads. Well, the youth of today has a mind and a voice that cannot be suppressed. Aawaz is that voice, a voice that screams for justice,” she added.