Faced with a tremendous response over his contentious social media post in the midst of diplomatic wrangling between India and Canada, Punjabi-Canadian rapper Shubhneet Singh (popularly known as Shubh) announced on Thursday that he was “extremely disheartened” by the cancellation of his India tour.
The rapper’s ‘Still Rollin India tour’ had already been cancelled due to his purported support for the Khalistan cause.
Shubhneet Singh said in an Instagram statement that he had been rehearsing hard for his India trip for the past two months and was very enthusiastic about performing in the nation.
Taking to his page on Instagram, the rapper posted, “As a young rapper-singer hailing from Punjab, it was my life’s dream to put my music on an international dais. But the recent happenings have tumbled my hard work and progress, and I wanted to say a few words to express my dismay and sorrow.”
“I’m extremely disheartened by the cancellation of my tour in India. I was highly amped up and enthusiastic to perform in my country, in front of my people. The preparations were in full swing and I was practicing with my heart and soul for the last two months. And I was very excited, happy, and ready to perform. But I guess destiny had some other plans,” he added in his post.
Terming India as his country, he said his “ancestors and Gurus did not blink an eye” when it came to making sacrifices for the country’s freedom.
“India is MY country too. I was born here. It is the land of my GURUS and my ANCESTORS, who didn’t even blink an eye to make sacrifices for the freedom of this land, for its glory, and for the family. And Punjab is my soul, Punjab is in my blood. Whatever I am today, I am because of being a Punjabi,” he added in his Instagram post.
Shubhneet stated in a previous post that drew outrage that he intended to pray for Punjab because there were reports of power outages in the state, and that he did not mean to hurt anyone’s feelings.
The accusations levelled upon him, according to the musician, upset him “deeply.”
Shubhneet’s ‘Still Rollin Tour for India’ was cancelled on Wednesday, according to BookMyShow.
BookMyShow announced on X, “Singer Shubhneet Singh’s Still Rollin Tour for India stands cancelled. To that end, BookMyShow has initiated a complete refund of the ticket amount for all consumers who had purchased tickets for the show. The refund will be reflected within 7-10 working days in the customer’s source account of the original transaction.”
The ticket-booking service received flak on social media after hosting a performer who was labelled an accused Khalistani sympathiser following his previous remark.
Earlier that day, on Wednesday, the hashtag #UninstallBookMyShow began trending on X, with some users labelling Shubh a “Khalistani.” On his Instagram stories, the rapper posted a distorted map of India with the phrase “Pray for Punjab.” During the uproar, ace India cricketer Virat Kohli reportedly unfollowed Shubhneet on Instagram.
The diplomatic relations between India and Canada deteriorated on Monday when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the Union government of being responsible for the death of wanted Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Conversely, India dismissed the Trudeau administration’s charges, calling them “absurd” and “motivated.”
