The Republic Day tractor march of the farmers deviated from the planned route on Tuesday ending with clashes in parts of Delhi. Actor Deep Sidhu has been accused by farmer union leaders of instigating protesters to climb atop the Red Fort. The actor who has been an active part of the protest since past few months also defended the hoisting of 'Nishan Sahib', the religious flag of the Sikhs on the Red Fort during a Facebook Live on Tuesday night.
Who is Deep Sidhu?
Deep Sidhu is a punjabi actor and a social worker, whose career in films started with a debut in Ramta Jogi in 2015. Born in 1984, in the Muktsar district of Punjab was once an aide of Bollywood actor Sunny Deol. He was with Deol during the 2019 Lok Sabha election campaign when the actor was contesting elections from the Gurdaspur seat of Punjab. His photo with the now BJP MP Sunny Deol and Prime Minister Narendra Modi also went viral post the Republic Day violence.
Reactions from various politicians and farmers leaders
Post the incident, Deol has distanced himself from Sidhu and had said he and his families have no association with Sidhu. "My heart is very sad to see what happened on the Red Fort today, I have already clarified this through Twitter on December 6. I am that my or my family has no connection with Deep Sidhu. Jai Hind'," the actor and MP had tweeted.
"Most unfortunate. I have supported the farmers’ protests from the start but I cannot condone lawlessness. And on #RepublicDay no flag but the sacred tiranga should fly aloft the Red Fort," said Congress leader Shashi Tharoor who has been supporting the protest from the beginning.
{{/usCountry}}"Most unfortunate. I have supported the farmers’ protests from the start but I cannot condone lawlessness. And on #RepublicDay no flag but the sacred tiranga should fly aloft the Red Fort," said Congress leader Shashi Tharoor who has been supporting the protest from the beginning.
{{/usCountry}}Swaraj Abhayan leader Yogendra Yadav had also given a statement saying they too have distanced themselves from Sidhu claiming that they had been afar "from our protest right from the beginning".
"When he participated in a protest at Shambu border and seeing their activities, the farmer unions had decided to keep them away from our movement," Yadav had said, reported news agency PTI.
Also Read | Chaos in Delhi as protesting farmers stormed Red Fort: Here’s what happened
The umbrella body of 41 farmers union Samkyukt Kisan Morcha had also disassociated itself with all those involved in the unfortunate violence that occured on Tuesday.
What Sidhu had said
While the accused in his Facebook Live has defended the incidents that took place on the 72nd Republic Day. Defending the hoisting of the religious flag he said, "To symbolically register our protest against the new farm legislations, we put up 'Nishan Sahib' and a farmer flag and also raised a slogan of Kisan Mazdoor Ekta."
He also said what happened on Tuesday and said when the real rights of the farmers are ignored such movements "provokes anger".