- Wednesday, February 26, 2025
India remembers October 31 with pain as on this day in 1984 that Gandhi, its prime minister then, was gunned down by her two Sikh bodyguards.
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIAN actress Kangana Ranaut, who is known for her strong viewpoints on issues, on Tuesday (31) slammed Punjabi-Canadian rapper Shubhneet Singh, known more by his stage name Shubh, for allegedly glorifying the assassination of former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi during a live performance in London. The country remembered Gandhi on Tuesday as it was the 39th anniversary of the ghastly incident that took place on October 31, 1984.
Shubh, who is allegedly a supporter of Khalistan, an issue that has strained the relations between India and Canada of late after a Khalistani separatist leader was shot dead on Canadian soil in June, recently found himself embroiled in a controversy around a distorted map of India.
In the latest incident, the 26-year-old singer, who has given hits such as ‘Elevated’, ‘OG’ and ‘Cheques’, received a hoodie from a fan during the stage performance. According to a low-quality video of the event that went viral on social media, Singh checked the hoodie before displaying it before the audience. It was alleged that the piece of cloth bore a graphic representation of events surrounding the killing of the former prime minister by her Sikh bodyguards near his residence in Delhi.
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… https://t.co/GMqGjPeJQu— Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) October 31, 2023
A user, who shared the video on the Internet, said, “Khalistani singer Shubh glorified Indira Gandhi’s killers in London by wearing a hoodie featuring a picture and the date of her assassination on a map of Punjab. Earlier, when he posted a distorted map of Bharat, Congress and the leftist ecosystem defended him vigorously.”
Ranaut retweeted the video and slammed Singh for his act.
“Celebrating the cowardly killing of an elderly woman by those she trusted as her protectors. When individuals are entrusted with the responsibility of safeguarding others but exploit that trust and faith by using the very weapons they were meant to protect with to commit a heinous act, it is a display of cowardice, not bravery,” she said.
“One should feel ashamed of such a cowardly attack on an elderly woman who was unarmed and unsuspecting, a woman who was the chosen leader of a democracy. There is nothing to glorify here, Shubham ji. Shame,” she added.
It may be mentioned here that the 36-year-old is playing the role of Gandhi in her upcoming film ‘Emergency’. It was supposed to be released on November 24 but got postponed.
In June, India hit out at Canada for allegedly allowing a float in a parade depicting the assassination of Gandhi, perceived to be glorification of violence by Sikh separatists. Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar had said then that it would hurt the two nations’ bilateral ties.
