Recently, posters of a concert featuring India-born Canadian rapper Shubh were making the rounds on the internet. This concert is going to be held on 30th September 2023 in Gurgaon. The concert is being sponsored by Shark Tank fame Aman Gupta’s boAt, an earware audio brand.
Who is Shubh?
Punjabi singer Shubh aka Shubneet Singh, is known for his songs like Elevated, Baller, We Rollin, and No Love among others. Back in March 2023, pro-Khalistan Sikhs protested across the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Punjab, India, against the manhunt of the pro-Khalistan separatist Amritpal Singh and the crackdown on his organisation Waris Punjab De, carried out by the Indian authorities.
He shared an Instagram story with the caption “Pray for Punjab” as he shared a photo of a distorted map of India that had the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and North-eastern states not included. After outrage from netizens, he deleted the story and uploaded another one with just the text “Pray for Punjab” written.
Amritpal & the Khalistani movement
On the radar of Central investigating agencies, Amritpal Singh Sandhu is believed to have been groomed by Pakistan’s notorious spy agency ISI and underwent a meteoric rise after arriving from UAE where he worked in a trucking business. On 15-Feb’22, Deep Sidhu died in a car accident and Amritpal Singh took over the reigns.
On February 23, a mob armed with weapons led by Amritpal Singh engaged in a confrontation with the police and also surrounded a police station near Amritsar. They claimed they commanded the release of a fellow member of their group, who had been apprehended in connection with a kidnapping incident. Six policemen were injured in the bloody clash.
In February 2023, Amritpal Singh threatened Home Minister Amit Shan with the same fate as Indira Gandhi. He is alleged to be ISI’s protege to allow the Khalistani movement to rear its ugly head in India. He was on the run and was declared a fugitive. Amritpal Singh was arrested in Dibrugarh, Assam in April 2023.
What is the current controversy about?
Netizens are enraged that someone with pro-Khalistan sentiments is being allowed to perform in India, sponsored by an Indian company.
Some of the reactions to this latest development:
Tickets to his show were also found to be available on Book My Show website.
Ironically, Shubh made the following statement when he announced his “World Tour to India” – “India is home for me in more ways than one, and this is an extremely special moment for me as it’s my homecoming tour. I get to kick off my debut in the live arena domain in a country that has been instrumental in the evolution of my creativity and my growth as an artist. I can’t wait to step on that stage and interact with all my amazing desi fans.”
This is entirely contradictory to his now-deleted Instagram story which depicted a distorted map of the same India he is speaking about.
