When guns and lives go for a song

Singer and rapper Sidhu Moosewala’s murder in broad daylight and the outpouring of grief have highlighted his popularity and the violent gang wars of Punjab. Vikas Vasudeva reports on the various dimensions of the State’s ‘gun culture’

Braving the scorching heat on the afternoon of May 31, Sidhu Moosewala’s fans gathered outside his house to get a last glimpse of their idol, a widely popular Punjabi singer and rapper. Holding his pictures and posters, the anguished fans, mostly young men, some of whom were dressed like their gun-caressing macho hero, thronged his native village Moosa in Mansa district. His inconsolable parents sat near his body at home. The singer’s favourite tractor, which had figured in many of his music videos, was bedecked with flowers for his last journey to a family-owned field for the cremation.

Two days earlier, at around 5.30 in the evening, 29-year-old Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, popularly known as Sidhu Moosewala, had been driving a black SUV with two companions accompanying him when their vehicle was blocked by two others — one from the front and one from behind — on the outskirts of Jawaharke village, close to Moosa. Moosewala had been given security cover by the Punjab police but this had been trimmed a day earlier. Director-General of Police (DGP) V.K. Bhawra later said Moosewala had asked his two commandos to stay at home and did not use his private bulletproof car that day.

The men in the vehicles began firing indiscriminately at the black SUV. Photos that emerged later of Moosewala’s vehicle showed bullet holes in the glass and blood-splattered seats. He was declared ‘brought dead’ at the local hospital. The initial postmortem report noted over two dozen bullets lodged in Moosewala’s body. The police recovered around 30 empty cases from the spot which showed that three different arms had been used to fire at him. The Lawrence Bishnoi gang claimed responsibility for the killing through a Canada-based operative, Goldy Brar.

A few metres away from the spot where Moosewala was shot, Gurdeep Singh, 18, runs a small cycle repair shop. Days later, he was still in a state of shock. “I was fixing a cycle when I heard the gunshots. I thought someone was firing celebratory shots in the air. But within seconds, I realised that the gunshots were growing louder and louder. I ran for my life. Later, I came to know that Moosewala was killed in the firing. It was a horrific experience. The way those bullets were fired... many people could have died here,” he said, pointing to the bullet imprints on the gate of an adjacent house and the walls of the building that has his shop.

The murder of the high-profile singer in broad daylight sent shock waves across Punjab. It placed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has been in power for only two and a half months in a State where it is a new entrant, on the back foot over allegations of a breakdown of law and order. And it has highlighted the problem in Punjab of gang wars, which have become increasingly bloody and frequent over time.

Moosewala was born in Moosa village. His father, Balkaur Singh, was in the Army before taking up a job in the Punjab government. His mother, Charan Kaur, is the village head (Sarpanch) of Moosa village. Moosewala studied electric engineering but was keen on following a career in music. He moved to Canada after graduation. In 2016, he wrote lyrics for the song ‘License’, sung by Ninja. The following year, he shot to fame as a singer when his track ‘So High’, released on his YouTube channel, became a hit. In 2018, his debut music album ‘PBX 1’ was released and made it to Canada’s Billboard Albums chart. Moosewala’s famous songs include ‘Issa Jatt’, ‘Selfmade,’ ‘Tibeyan Da Putt’, ‘Tochan’, ‘Legend’, ‘Game’ and ‘Bambiha Bole’. His last song, presciently titled ‘The Last Ride’, was released last month. His song videos often featured swanky cars, tractors and guns, and sometimes masked men.

Moosewala also had a brief stint in politics; he contested the 2022 Assembly elections as the Congress party candidate from Mansa constituency and lost by a large margin.