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Justin Trudeau calls Diljit Dosanjh ‘guy from Punjab’, BJP leader schools him: ‘Deliberate mischief’
Justin Trudeau, in a social media post, said that Canada is a great country where a guy from Punjab can make history and sell out stadiums.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa on Monday accused Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of deliberate mischief for referring to Diljit Dosanjh as a Punjabi singer instead of an Indian singer in a social media post.
The Canadian Prime Minister made a surprise visit to Diljit Dosanjh’s show in Toronto, sharing a picture on X (formerly Twitter) and wrote, “Stopped by the Rogers Centre to wish @diljitdosanjh good luck before his show.”
“Canada is a great country — one where a guy from Punjab can make history and sell out stadiums. Diversity isn’t just our strength. It’s a super power,” he added.
However, he was criticised by Manjinder Sirsa, the national general secretary of the BJP, who said, “Let me correct this, Mr. Prime Minister- where one guy from INDIA can make history and sell out stadiums. Your gesture of lauding a fantastic artist like @diljitdosanjh has been totally overshadowed by your deliberate mischief through wordplay.”
The BJP leader said that the concert of Diljit Dosanjh in Canada was fantastic and a rare experience. Seeing Justin Trudeau attend and take a picture with him was an even prouder moment, he said.
“I was proud to see an Indian, a Punjabi artist, achieve such recognition that the Prime Minister came to see him. However, Trudeau marred his good gesture by not identifying this artist as Indian. The Prime Minister’s post is dignified, and he should have maintained that dignity,” said Sirsa.
Diljit Dosanjh performed in Canada this past weekend to a packed house at Rogers Centre in Toronto, making history as the first Punjabi artist to fill the venue. He shared snippets of his performance on popular tracks like “born to shine” and the cheering crowd on his Instagram stories.
Dosanjh has been pursuing global recognition for years. The Punjabi singer and actor recently made waves in the US with a performance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, made history at Coachella, and saw success at the North American box office with his Punjabi romantic comedy, Jatt & Juliet 3.
