On Lohri: Memory, Vigilance, and Solidarity with Hindu Girls of Pakistan and Bangladesh

Explainer I ghtn.in

Every Lohri, voices rise around the fire to sing “Sundar Mundariye Ho.”Most hear it as tradition. Few pause to ask why this song survived, unchanged, for centuries.

Because it was never meant to entertain. It was meant to warn.

The song emerged in medieval Punjab, during periods of hindu persecution under Islamic rule, when Hindu girls were frequent targets of abduction, forced conversion, and erasure. Folk memory did what institutions could not, it encoded danger into song.

“Sundar” is not a metaphor. She is a young Hindu girl, visible, vulnerable, and valuable — not in wealth, but in dignity. The repeated cry “Ho!” is not joy; it is alarm. A community calling out to itself.

The song remembers Dulla Bhatti, not as a romantic rebel, but as a protector,  a man who rescued abducted girls and ensured their marriages, because families alone could not stand against organised violence.

This is why the song is sung publicly, collectively, and loudly.It was a reminder that safety is communal, not individual.

From Memory to Present Reality

Centuries have passed. Borders have shifted. But the vulnerability the song warned about has not disappeared.

Today, in Pakistan, Hindu girls continue to face forced conversions, coerced marriages, and social intimidation often with minimal legal recourse and intense pressure on families to remain silent.

What is striking is not just the persistence of the crime, but the familiarity of the pattern:

• Young girls targeted

• Families intimidated

• Community structures weakened

• Silence normalised

The State, once again, is often absent and complicit.And once again, memory becomes resistance.

The Song Still Matters

“Sundar Mundariye Ho” survives because it carries a civilisational instinct:never allow comfort to erase caution.

Lohri’s fire symbolises warmth and protection, but the song reminds us why that protection was needed in the first place. Forgetting the meaning does not make society safer,  it makes it careless.

For a new generation, the lesson is uncomfortable but necessary:

• Cultural amnesia enables repetition

• Silence empowers predators

• Memory is not grievance, it is safeguarding

From Song to Responsibility

Sundar Mundariye Ho” — Lyrics & English Translation

Punjabi (Romanised)

Sundar mundariye ho!

Tera kaun vichara ho?

Dulla Bhatti wala ho,

Dulle di dhee viahi ho,

Ser shakkar pai ho!

Kudi da laal pataka ho,

Kudi da saal viah ho,

Ser shakkar pai ho!

How to Understand the Lyrics (Line-by-Line Meaning)

“Sundar mundariye ho”

Not a compliment alone — Sundar refers to a young, visible, vulnerable girl.The exclamation “Ho!” is a communal cry, not celebration.

“Tera kaun vichara ho?”

“Who will protect you?”This line reflects social anxiety, not romance.

“Dulla Bhatti wala ho”

Dulla Bhatti is invoked as protector and guardian when families or the State cannot.

“Dulle di dhee viahi ho”

He ensures marriage — symbolising honour restored and safety secured, not ownership.

“Ser shakkar pai ho”

Jaggery is offered and  not gold or land, emphasising ritual legitimacy, not wealth.

Red cloth / pataka

A sign of marriage and dignity, publicly acknowledged to deter predators.

The song does not call for hatred. It calls for vigilance, solidarity, and moral clarity.

When Hindu girls in Pakistan face danger today, the song’s relevance is no longer symbolic, it is urgent.

To sing it without understanding is nostalgia. To remember its meaning is responsibility.

Folk songs are the longest-living archives of any civilisation.They survive because they protect truths too painful to forget.

“Sundar Mundariye Ho” is not about the past.It is about what happens when societies stop listening to their own warnings.

(Edited and curated by Dr Vinay Nalwa)