Deep Sidhu, the Punjabi singer-actor who claimed that he was flagging the issue of farmers against the Centre’s three contentious farm laws, hoist himself up into deep controversy with accusations of off-tracking the peasants’ peaceful movement by giving it a communal colour.
Already facing summons by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) as “witness” in a case against the banned outfit ‘Sikhs for Justice’ (SFJ), Sidhu was part of the protestors that hoisted the flags at Red Fort on Tuesday, amidst the slogans of “Raaj karega Khalsa (the Khalsa will rule)” and “Jhoolde nishaan rehan, panth maharaj de” (the flags of the Sikh nation may always flutter) and doing a Facebook live.
In fact, he is being blamed for “instigating” the farmer protesters and leading them to the country’s iconic monument.
“Government agent”, “biggest traitor” — is how the leaders of various farmers’ unions have dubbed Sidhu, blaming him for to “damaging” the farmers’ agitation going on peacefully since months.
However, 36-year-old Sidhu — who has never hesitated from openly eulogizing the Sikh separatist militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale — described his act of as “symbolic” by releasing a video on his Facebook page.
Defending his act, Sidhu said that it was the outcome of the agitation that has been going on for several months, and could not be blamed on one person. He said that the Nishan Sahib and Kisan Union flags were hoisted “in a flow of emotions”.
“I had warned that our leaders had taken a decision which is again the youth’s sentiments. When the Sanyukt Kisan Mocha was asked to take a decision that is acceptable to all, they rejected this request. How can Deep Sidhu instigate such a huge crowd…You will not find a single video of me leading anyone to Red Fort. Everyone was swayed by the moment,” he said. In his Facebook video, while speaking in Hindi.
A night before the scheduled ‘kisan tractor march’, Sidhu took over the stage at Singhu border protest site accusing the farmers’ leadership of “acting under pressure”. Addressing the protestors, he asked the leaders, from the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, to clarify if they can take the initially decided route of outer ring road for the tractor march.
“They should come on the stage…If they don’t come, then we will take a decision. You all should decide who should take the decision in that case,” Sidhu said during his address.
WHO IS DEEP SIDHU?
Deep Sidhu, a wannabe Bollywood actor, was a close associate of actor-turned-politician Sunny Deol, and even acted as his election agent when the Bollywood action star contested as BJP candidate from Gurdaspur in 2019 Lok Sabha polls. However later, BJP MP Sunny Deol disassociated himself from Sidhu last month after he openly came out in support of the agitating farmers.
Sidhu has been actively participating in the protest since September, when it was going on in Punjab. But when the protest at the Singhu border began in November-end, the farmers’ leaders banned him from speaking on the official stage as he was accused of “trying to deviate the focus of the agitation” from the three contentious acts.
However, he continued to camp at the Singhu border, and address his followers through his social media posts.
SIDHU UNDER ATTACK
Right after the Red Fort incident, Sidhu has been facing public ire — not only on face, but also on social media. He is being blamed for “ruining” the peaceful agitation. In a video where Sidhu is seen doing a Facebook live on a tractor after the flag was hoisted, a group of farmers can purportedly be seen roughing him up and saying “you have damaged the entire movement”.
Following this, some farmers come to his rescue, and he is seen alighting from the tractor and running towards a bike. The farmers can purportedly be seen chasing and cursing him for damaging their cause.
Another video, purportedly shot from a car, shows a group of people chasing Sidhu in a car.
The anger against Sidhu is visible on social media as well. Last night, in a live video on Facebook, Sidhu was seen trying to wash his hands of the episode. His video received 3,000 comments and a majority of them were seen slamming him. Even some challenged him why he ran away from Red Fort.
NIA AFTER SIDHU
NIA, in December, had registered a case against Sikhs for Justice for funding “the anti-India movement in the county and abroad” and had also issued notices to Sidhu and his brother Mandeep Singh. Sidhu, as per NIA officials, is considered to be close to Sikh ideologue Ajmer Singh, as he practiced law before joining the show business in 2015.
The NIA notices to Deep Sidhu and his brother were served under Section 160 of the CrPC to call them as witnesses in the case, as those who are being summoned appeared acquainted with the circumstances of the case and asked them to appear before the investigating officer (IO) for examination.
It has been learnt that the investigation is based on a suspicious transaction report (STR) compiled by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and was shared with the NIA. They said that the report observed abnormalities in banking transactions in the past three-four months.
HAVE NO LINK WITH DEEP SIDHU, SAYS SUNNY DEOL
BJP MP Sunny Deol has clarified that he or his family members have no links with actor Deep Sidhu who was among protesters at the Red Fort during farmers’ tractor parade in Delhi.
Deol said that he had clarified earlier also that he had no link with Sidhu. “I have already made it clear through Twitter on December 6 that I or my family have no links with Deep Sidhu,” Deol said in a tweet on Tuesday night.
He also said that he was deeply saddened over the incidents, which unfolded at the Red Fort on January 26.
