Who is Deep Sidhu?

Deep Sidhu, who has been associated with the farmers' agitation for the last many months, said “anger flares up” in a mass movement like this when the genuine rights of people are ignored.

New Delhi: Punjabi Singer Deep Sidhu has been accused of instigating clashes at farmers’ parade yesterday. Notably, Deep Sidhu was among those present when a group of farmers stormed the Red Fort and hoisted Nishan Sahib, a flag that was earlier seen as a Khalistan flag. Deep Sidhu, on the other hand, sought to defend the action of the protesters, saying it was a symbolic protest and they did not remove the national flag during the Red Fort protests on India’s 72nd Republic Day.

Who is Deep Sidhu? Deep Sidhu was born in 1984 in Punjab’s Muktsar district. He had studied law and was also a part of the Bar for a brief period before he won the Kingfisher Model Hunt award. His first Punjabi movie–Ramta Jogi– had released in 2015. But, he became popular in 2018 following the release of his movie Jora Das Numbria, wherein he played the lead role of a gangster. Sidhu also worked for BJP MP Sunny Deol during his Gurdaspur election campaign in 2019. Sidhu has been associated with the farmers’ agitation for the last many months. Defending his action, Sidhu said “anger flares up” in a mass movement like this when the genuine rights of people are ignored.

In a video posted on Facebook, he said that they should not be given any communal colour or dubbed as fundamentalists or hardliners. “To symbolically register our protest against the new farm legislations, we put up Nishan Sahib and a farmer flag and also raised a slogan of Kisan Mazdoor Ekta,” said Sidhu.

Following the clash at the tractor parade, Sunny Deol issued a statement saying he doesn’t have any links to Sidhu. “I had earlier, on December 6 through Twitter said that neither I nor my family has any links to Deep Sidhu.”

Meanwhile, Gurnam Singh Chaduni, Chief of the Haryana unit of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), had accused Deep Sidhu of inciting and misguiding protesters. “He [Deep Sidhu] led them to the Red Fort. Farmers never wanted to go to Red Fort,” BKU’s Haryana unit chief Gurnam Singh Chaduni was quoted as saying.

The farmers, who have been protesting against the three farm laws for two months, were allowed by the Delhi Police to take out the Kisan tractor parade on Republic Day and routes were already set for it. However, by not following the prescribed routes, the protesters reached the Red Fort.

Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy tweeted, “There is a buzz, could be fake, or fake IDs of enemies that a BJP member close to high places in PMO acted as an agent provocateur in the Red Fort drama. Please check out and inform.”

There is a buzz, could be fake, or fake IDs of enemies that a BJP member close to high places in PMO acted as a agent provocateur in the Red Fort drama. Please check out and inform

— Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) January 27, 2021