PUNJABI ACTOR SUMMONED BY NIA FOR SFJ LINKS HOISTED FLAG AT RED FORT

Punjabi actor Deep Sidhu, who was summoned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) last week in connection with the Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) case, was among the group of farmers who entered the Red Fort on Tuesday and hoisted flags.

While farmer leaders accuse Deep Sidhu of instigating protesters to march to the Red Fort, the actor in his defence said in a Facebook LIVE video, “We only hoisted the Nishan Sahib at the Red Fort while exercising our democratic right to protest, the Indian flag was not removed.”

Hundreds of farmers riding on tractors, motorcycles and cars entered into the premises of Red Fort on Tuesday afternoon with the tricolour and flags of the farmers’ unions in their hands. The farmers, who outnumbered the security forces and police personnel, soon climbed on the ramparts of the monument and hoisted their flags there.

Last week, the NIA had summoned Sidhu to appear before it in connection with its probe into the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) case it had registered on December 15 last year.

Even the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) distanced itself from Sidhu and accused him of leading the farmers to the Red fort. The SKM said that Sidhu appeared on a stage on Monday night and gave a provocative speech promoting separatism to sabotage the farmers’ protest.

In 2015, Sidhu’s first Punjabi movie Ramta Jogi hit the theatres. However, it was only in 2018 that he gained popularity with the movie Jora Das Numbria, in which he portrayed the lead role of a gangster.

Known to be once close to Gurdaspur MP and Bollywood actor Sunny Deol, Sidhu was the election in-charge for the BJP leader during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In December last year, Deol had distanced himself from Sidhu. Sunny Deol, while expressing sadness at the Red Fort incident on Tuesday said in a tweet, “I had earlier, on December 6 through Twitter said that neither I nor my family has any links to Deep Sidhu.”