On 4th October, Akaal Clothing, a pro-Khalistani clothing line that recently launched a hoodie with artwork celebrating Indira Gandhi’s assassination, announced the cancellation of all orders placed for the item. The controversial garment came to the limelight after Canadian pro-Khalistani singer Shubh held the hoodie in question during his concert in London. The hoodie sparked controversy, and Shubh was criticised on social media for celebrating the assassination of former Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi.
In an Instagram story, the clothing line claimed that as the hoodie got a lot of social media attention, the officials (possibly law enforcement agencies) were apparently looking into it. They wrote, “WJKK WJKF. We deeply regret to inform you all that we’ve had to cancel the “who shot ya” drop due to unforeseen circumstances. The design on the back of the hoodie has drawn a lot of attention, including that of officials. For the safety of our customers and the continuity of our brand, we have cancelled the drop and will issue a full refund to all customers within 72 hours. We will NOT be SILENCED and will come back with a bigger and better drop.” WJKK WJKF’ means ‘Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh’ which is a Sikh slogan.
In another story, they claimed another hoodie will be launched soon. “We cannot and will not be silenced. We appreciate all the love we’ve received,” they wrote on Instagram.
The black hoodie has bas the map of Punjab printed on the back. Inside the map, there is an illustration showing the assassination of former prime minister Indira Gandhi by two Sikh bodyguards. Apart from this, a copy of a newspaper report on the assassination is also present inside the image of the map. The date 31/10/1984, the date when Indira Gandhi was shot dead by Khalistanis, is printed below the map.
The front of the hoodie has the logo of the Khalistani clothing line printed on it. The logo is the image of an assault rifle with the word AKAAL written over it.
The Shubh-hoodie controversy
On 29th October (local time), controversial rapper Shubh was seen holding the newly launched hoodie with artwork celebrating the assassination of former Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi during his concert in London. The video went viral on social media after several pro-Khalistani accounts shared the video. The hoodie was created by a pro-Khalistani clothing line, Akaal Clothing, that shared the video on their Instagram account as well.
From the video, it appears the hoodie was handed over to Shubh by someone in the audience. He looked at the artwork and then flaunted it towards the crowd. In the pro-Khalistani artwork, the date of Indira Gandhi’s assassination, which was 31st October 1984, was printed. Akaal Clothing is using the controversy around Shubh’s now-cancelled India tour to promote the recently launched hoodie.
Soon after, Shubh issued a statement through his Instagram handle. In his statement, he claimed that several articles and clothes were thrown at him during his performance, and he held up the hoodie without seeing what was on it. It is important to note here that Shubh is not denying that the hoodie indeed had the image glorifying the assassination of Indira Gandhi.
Shubh and distorted map controversy
On 23rd March 2023, Shubhneet Singh alias Shubh 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.
In September, he announced his India tour in association with BookMyShow and the tour was sponsored by the Indian brand boAt. As the controversy around the distorted map resurfaced, first boAt stepped back from sponsorship, and later, BookMyShow announced that the concert was cancelled. Leading celebrities, including Indian cricketer Viral Kohli, unfollowed him on Instagram amid the backlash. Short video creating platform Moj also removed his songs.
Shubh and the artist who created the artwork remained silent for a long and spoke only after Shubh’s tour was cancelled. However, by then, it was too late, and people questioned why they remained silent and did not apologise earlier.
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 said in a post on Instagram.
Earlier, the artist Inquisitive, who created the distorted map, played the victim and blamed Kangana Ranaut, social media and “powerheads” for the controversy. However, he stood by his creation and released another version of it.
Amandeep Singh claimed that the ‘artwork’ published on 21st March this year aimed at highlighting the blackout in Punjab and merely depicting a policeman taking the switch out of the Punjab region. The artist further mentioned that he did not intend to offend anyone while depicting the northern side of the map as faded or missing; however, he did intend to highlight this area as dark due to the blackout.
