Chandigarh, June 23: Singer Diljit Dosanjh on Tuesday said he was Indian taxpayer, who had always stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the country and Punjab in the time of need after Congress MP Ravneet Singh Bittu urged Punjab Chief Minister to file an FIR against him for “openly supporting” the demand for Khalistan.
Dosanjh came out in defence of his song ‘Rangroot’, part of the movie ‘Punjab 1984’—a clip from which he had recently put up on social media.
Bittu had urged Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to file FIRs against singers Diljit Dosanjh and Jazzy Bains and Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh for “openly supporting” Pannu and his organisation’s demand for Khalistan. In a statement, he said the “letter written” by Pannu to China proved that “they empathise with China and condemn India for the violent face-off”.
Dosanjh said that the movie and its songs, which were released in 2014, were only screened across Punjab after being approved by the Indian censor board.
“Secondly, the film was given a national award by the Indian government. So I don’t know how an FIR can be lodged against singing a song and putting it on social media when it is from a national award-winning film, which was released in 2014. I don’t understand how this has become an issue now,” said Dosanjh.
