Rapper Shubhneet Singh, popularly known as Shubh, recently made headlines after he shared a distorted map of India. The singer-rapper has found himself in the middle of a controversy once again as a video from his recent concert is going viral for the wrong reasons. He is now accused of glorifying the killers of former Prime Minister India Gandhi during his live concert in London.
An allegedly pro-Khalistani social media handle named SherePanjabUK shared a video of Shubh flaunting a hoodie during his London show and wrote, “Punjabi Artist Shubh holding a hoodie of an illustration that shows Indian PM Indira Gandhi (aka maimuna begum) being greeted by Shaheed Bhai Satwant Singh and Shaheed Bhai Beant Singh #NeverForget84.”
The video, along with the caption referring to the late PM's assassins as martyrs, created a storm on social media. Shubh was accused of celebrating former PM Indra Gandia’s assassination. That the video was shared on her death anniversary made matters worse with social media users demanding a ban on him in India.
However, upon closer inspection, it appears that the garment Shubh flaunted during his London concert was not the hoodie that was being advertised by the pro-Khalistani groups. Videos from the concert show that the hoodie Shubh was flaunting had a map of Punjab with the districts' names clearly written on it. While the illustration was similar to the other hoodie depicting Indira Gandhi's assassination, it was not the same.
However, this has not stopped a lot of vitriol coming the singer's way. Actress Kangana Ranaut also criticised him and wrote on Twitter, “Celebrating the cowardly killing of an old woman by those who she appointed as her saviours. When you are trusted to protect but you take advantage of the trust and faith and use the same weapons to kill the ones were suppose to protect then it’s a shameful act of cowardice not of bravery. One must be ashamed of such a cowardly attack on an elderly lady who was disarmed and unaware, a lady who was the chosen leader of a democracy, nothing to glorify here Shubham ji. Shame !!!" Kangana will notably play late PM Indira Gandhi in her next film Emergency, which will release next year.
Earlier, the singer shared a distorted map of India and had faced backlash for allegedly showing his support towards Khalistan and separatists. After this, celebs including Virat Kohli unfollowed him on social media and his India music tour called 'Still Rolling Tour' was cancelled.
Later, he took to social media and apologised for this act and said it was unintentional. He wrote, "As a young rapper-singer hailing from Punjab, India, it was my life’s dream to put my music on an international dais. But the recent happenings have tumbled my hard work and progress, and I wanted to say a few words to express my dismay and sorrow. I’m extremely disheartened by the cancellation of my tour in India. I was highly amped up and enthusiastic to perform in my country, in front of my people. The preparations were in full swing and I was practicing with my heart and soul for the last two months. And I was very excited, happy, and ready to perform. But I guess destiny had some other plans."
"India is MY country too. I was born here. It is the land of my GURUS and my ANCESTORS, who didn’t even blink an eye to make sacrifices for the freedom of this land, for its glory, and for the family. And Punjab is my soul, Punjab is in my blood. Whatever I am today, I am because of being a Punjabi. Punjabis do not need to give proof of patriotism. At every turn in history, Punjabis have sacrificed their lives for the freedom of this country. That’s why it’s my humble request to refrain from naming every Punjabi as a separatist or anti-national," he said.
