Bappi Lahiri’s ‘Jimmy, Jimmy’ is now China’s Covid lockdown protest song

BEIJING: Bappi Lahiri’s hit song ‘Jimmy, Jimmy’ from Mithun Chakraborty-starrer ‘Disco Dancer’ has become a new anthem for people in China to protest Covid lockdowns.

Several videos went viral on TikTok and other social media platforms in which Chinese facing lockdowns are seen using Bappi Da’s track to express their anger and frustration over the country’s stringent zero-Covid policy.

Composed by Lahiri and sung by Parvati Khan, the hit song in China is recreated in Mandarin “Jie mi, jie mi”, which translates into “Give me rice, give me rice”.

People in videos are seen showing empty vessels to indicate how they are deprived of essential food items during the lockdowns. It can be interpreted as a plea from the people to the government to lift its harsh restrictions.

Locked down Chinese signing Jie Mi (give me rice)!#JieMi #CovidIsNotOver #GiveMeRice #JimmyJimmy#China #Lockdown #COVID19 #DiscoDancer pic.twitter.com/IFSM7LsmhV

— Durgesh Dwivedi (@durgeshdwivedi) October 31, 2022

Last month, the country’s ruling Communist Party and its leader Xi Jinping signalled that there would be no easing up of the zero-Covid policy, calling it a “people’s war to stop the spread of the virus”.

Across the country, around 200 lockdowns have been implemented in recent days — the majority of this affecting communities that have been marked as high or medium risk. Residents in different areas are subject to different rules, depending on whether they are in a low, medium or high-risk zone.

Recently, droves of migrant workers attempted to flee the lockdown situation and return to their hometowns. Visuals shared online indicate that workers at Apple’s largest assembly site in Zhengzhou broke out of the facilities to escape the ‘zero-Covid’ lockdown. (ANI)