On Thursday, 21st September 2023, pro-Khalistani Punjabi Canadian singer Shubhneet Singh shared a social media post in which he said that he was extremely disheartened due to the cancellation of his upcoming India tour. The singer has expressed this after he received a massive backlash over his controversial social media post amid the diplomatic sabre-rattling between India and Canada.
The rapper’s ‘Still Rollin India tour’ was canceled earlier over his support of the Khalistan cause. In a statement shared on Instagram, Shubhneet Singh said he had been practicing hard for his India tour for the past two months and was very excited at the prospect of performing in the country, ANI reported.
Taking to his page on Instagram, the rapper posted, “As a young rapper-singer hailing from Punjab, 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,” Shubhneet Singh added in his post.
Terming India as his country, Shubhneet Singh said his “ancestors and Gurus did not blink an eye” when it came to making sacrifices for the country’s freedom. “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,” he added in his Instagram post.
About his earlier post that had sparked only fury, Shubhneet said he intended to pray for Punjab as there were reports of electricity shutdown in the state, adding that he did not intend to hurt anyone’s sentiments. The singer said the accusations hurled at him affected him “deeply”.
On Wednesday, BookMyShow announced that Shubhneet’s ‘Still Rollin Tour for India’ had been canceled. In a post shared on X, BookMyShow stated, “Singer Shubhneet Singh’s Still Rollin Tour for India stands canceled. To that end, BookMyShow has initiated a complete refund of the ticket amount for all consumers who had purchased tickets for the show. The refund will be reflected within 7-10 working days in the customer’s source account of the original transaction.”
The ticket-booking app faced a backlash on social media for hosting a singer with Khalistani proclivities in the wake of his earlier post.
On 23 March 2023, Shubhneet Singh posted a story on his Instagram account captioned “Pray for Punjab” showing a distorted map of India. He posted a photo of the map without the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, and North-eastern states. This post was clearly an attempt to challenge the sovereignty of India and peddle the Khalistan narrative. The Canadian singer did this at a time when the Punjab Police was on the lookout to nab Khalistani terrorist Amritpal Singh. Shubh had openly supported Khalistani elements at the time.
Notably, his shows were scheduled from the 23rd to the 25th of September at Cordelia Cruises in Mumbai. Earlier on 19 September, another Indian brand boAt had announced its decision to withdraw its sponsorship from Shubh’s India tour. Earlier, on Wednesday, #UninstallBookMyShow started trending on X with some users calling Shubh a ‘Khalistani’. Reportedly, ace India cricketer Virat Kohli also unfollowed Shubhneet on Instagram amid the backlash.
The diplomatic relations between India and Canada took a turn for the worse after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday accused the Union government of being behind the fatal shooting of wanted Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India, however, rejected the allegations levelled by the Trudeau administration, terming them “absurd” and “motivated”.
