Punjabi actor-singer-activist Deep Sidhu, who has been in the news recently for all wrong reasons, is reportedly the mastermind of the Red Fort raid carried out on Tuesday.
The farm unions have distanced themselves from Sidhu and clarified that they have nothing to do the with Sidhu and his way of expressing dissent.
Sidhu has been making news even before the farmers' protest broke out in December. In fact, Sidhu has been holding rallies and protests across Punjab since last September.
His influential aura and an eye for the crowd had initially garnered him a lot of publicity but later his light dimmed out. A recent video shows how he was chased away by a bunch of farmers after he was spotted with a saffron flag.
Who is Deep Sidhu?
Known for making controversial statements, Deep Sidhu has been making moves in the Punjab music industry for over half a decade now. His debut film was released in 2015 called ‘Ramta Jogi’ where he was the lead actor. He has won the Kingfisher Model Hunt, after which he took part in Grasim Mr India and became Grasim Mr Personality and Grasim Mr Talented. He belongs to Muktsar, Punjab and has been actively participating in protests around Haryana and Delhi.
What about the Khalistani elements?
Before moving to the Singhu border, Deep Sidhu had been participating in various protests around Haryana and Punjab border. He had held a dissent sit-in at the Shambhu border where the initial reports of Khalistani slogans being raised had surfaced.
Sidhu’s reach to political and activist personalities-
Deep Sidhu was also in the news during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He was close to actor-turned-politician Sunny Deol, who contested from Gurdaspur as a BJP candidate. Sidhu was seen participating in Deol’s rallies and campaigning for him. However, Deol distanced himself from Sidhu in a tweet, saying he or his family had no relationship with him.
Gangster turned activist Lakha Sidhana, who was trying to pacify the young protesters and contain their anger to minimize the rampage on Monday has also been linked as one of the close aides of Deep Sidhu.
What is the Bhindranwale connection?
Sidhu has been openly quoting the controversial Khalistani ideologue Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Although Sidhu has been talking about the idea of strengthening the federal structure and giving more power to the states, his Khalistan links are being probed. The NIA had last month registered a case against Sikhs for Justice and had also issued notices to Sidhu and his brother Mandeep Singh.
