Who was Sidhu Moose Wala?
A popular rapper, Sidhu Moose Wala, whose real name was Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, shot to fame in a short span of six years, amassing a huge fan following among the youth across the globe, particularly in countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. With more than 10 million subscribers on YouTube and seven million followers on Instagram, his popularity was matched by few, if any, in the Punjabi hip-hop scene.
The
Who was Sidhu Moose Wala?
A popular rapper, Sidhu Moose Wala, whose real name was Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, shot to fame in a short span of six years, amassing a huge fan following among the youth across the globe, particularly in countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. With more than 10 million subscribers on YouTube and seven million followers on Instagram, his popularity was matched by few, if any, in the Punjabi hip-hop scene.
The 28-year-old singer was as controversial as popular. Not only did he never shy away from controversies, but he also thrived on them. The songs that he penned himself were replete with macho themes, glorifying violence and gun culture. His fascination with guns was all too obvious in his music videos. The singer’s frequent run-ins with the law resulted in a string of police cases.
Moose Wala took the plunge into politics by joining the Congress which fielded him from the Mansa assembly seat in the February 2022 state polls. His political debut ended up in a disaster as he lost by 63,323 votes. And, the singer vented his angst by blaming “gaddar” (traitors) for his defeat in a song that he released last month.
What are the theories behind his killing?
Punjab police suspect Moose Wala’s killing to be the result of inter-gang rivalry and the handiwork of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.
DGP VK Bhawra was the first to indicate that the singer’s murder could be in retaliation of Youth Akali leader Vicky Middukhera’s killing in August 2021 in which Moose Wala’s former secretary Shaganpreet Singh’s name had cropped up. Singh later fled to Australia.
Within hours of Moose Wala’s murder, gangster Goldy Brar, who operates from Canada, also put out a post on social media, taking responsibility for the killing. “Today, Moosewala was killed in Punjab, I, Sachin Bishnoi, Lawrence Bishnoi take the responsibility. It is our work,” Goldy wrote, claiming it to be a revenge kill.
Though Bhawra later played down the “gang war” remark, the state police claim to have identified the suspects and are questioning persons suspected to be associated with the activities of the Bishnoi gang.
The Delhi police are also looking at Bishnoi’s role and prison authorities at Tihar Jail in the national capital on Monday conducted searches in the cells of Bishnoi, who is often accused of running his network from inside the jail, and one of his accomplices.
Another angle the Punjab police are looking at is professional rivalry. “Given the planning, a number of assailants and use of sophisticated assault rifles, this could also be a hit job. Nothing is being ruled out,” said a police officer who did not want to be named. Several Punjabi singers have been on the hit list of gangsters and getting extortion threats.
Why did AAP withdraw his security?
Moose Wala had four Punjab Police commandos, but two of them were withdrawn last week. The remaining two were not accompanying him – a serious lapse in the security protocol, at the time of the ambush.
Moose Wala was among the 424 persons, including religious heads, police officers (both serving and retired) and politicians whose security was withdrawn or downgraded by the Punjab Police on Saturday. The singer’s security detail was pruned despite intelligence inputs on the threat to his life.
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, who was instrumental in Moose Wala’s induction into the party, also said that he (singer) was given security during the previous Congress government due to specific inputs from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) regarding security threat to him.
DGP VK Bhawra, who held a press conference within hours of the murder, said the security cover was curtailed as additional force was required because of the Operation Bluestar anniversary, known as “Ghallughara Week”, in June. The security review was the third since the AAP has come to power two-and-a-half months ago with a clean sweep in the state polls.
Chief minister Bhagwant Mann, who is also the home minister, has ordered a probe into the security cut. “All the aspects of security reduction are also under scrutiny and the responsibility of lapse, if any, will be fixed,” the chief minister said after Moose Wala’s father Balkaur Singh’s emotional letter to him in which he sought a thorough enquiry into the incident.
What is the political fallout of the killing?
The broad daylight murder of Moose Wala, which triggered a maelstrom of strong emotions, has put the AAP government in a spot, particularly because it took place a day after his security was downgraded. The state government is not only under intense fire from Moose Wala’s family and fans, but Sunday’s brutal incident – the singer’s body had 25 entry and exit bullet wounds as per the autopsy report — has also provided fresh ammunition to the opposition parties that were already gunning for the state government over the “deteriorating security scenario”.
The Congress, BJP and the SAD have gone all-out after the state administration, raising questions over its ability to handle the sensitive border state. The government has also come in for some sharp criticism over the “leaked letter” marked secret that carried sensitive details such as the names of protected persons and the extent of cuts in security cover, and will find it hard to answer some of these questions.
What is the larger state of law and order?
The AAP government has been kept on its toes by challenges relating to law and order from the time it took charge. A series of murders, the clash between members of a right-wing group and Sikh radicals in Patiala, the recovery of integrated explosive devices (IEDs) packed with RDX from Tarn Taran, an audacious rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attack at the Punjab Police’s intelligence wing headquarters in Mohali, and, last but not the least, ransom calls to singers and artists, have all heightened security concerns in the state.
Though the ruling party says the state government has risen to the challenge and acted swiftly in all these cases, law and order remain a challenge that it needs to take head-on.
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