Sidhu Moosewala fans await release of his song on Sutlej Yamuna Link canal, other Punjab issues

Moosewala, whose actual name was Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, was murdered on May 29 by unidentified assailants at Jawahar Ke village in Punjab’s Mansa, a day after the state government curtailed his security cover. His cousin and a friend, who were travelling in a jeep with him, were also injured in the attack.

Sources close to the slain singer told The Indian Express that Moosewala had prepared a new track about the canal, Sikh prisoners and other issues. “He had said that now his every third song would be on issues concerning Punjab,” said a close friend of Moosewala.

“He had completed the audio recording and the video shoot conceptualisation was in progress. He was scheduled to visit Canada for his concerts this summer and the plan was to release the SYL song just before that. Now his father would be taking the final call on his pending and unreleased works,” said the friend, who requested not to be named.

Even though Moosewala was known for songs that glorified weapons and violence, he was also among those who strongly raised issues related to the state’s rights. He had supported farmers in their agitation against the Centre’s three farm laws that were eventually withdrawn.

“Most people do not know who Moosewala really was. They stereotyped him seeing a few songs on weapons. He was way beyond that. He wrote this song on Punjab’s river water rights and the SYL canal issue because he had started feeling responsible towards his state and its people,” the friend said, adding that Moosewala would say “he must write something that is for the welfare of Punjab and its people” because “so many people follow him”.

Even though he had joined the Congress and contested elections, Punjab came before everything else for Moosewala, the friend said. “That is why he thought of writing a song on the SYL canal and other Punjab issues even after his defeat in the elections,” he added.

Hinting that Moosewala’s SYL song might be released soon, Stalinveer Singh, a Punjabi music and video director, and the singer’s close friend, said in an Instagram post that Moosewala had shared photos of Balwinder Singh Jattana with him on May 27 and discussed video shoot details. “The SYL song is going to remove many doubts and misunderstandings about who Moosewala really was,” he wrote on the social media platform.

Jattana, a militant of the pro-Khalistan outfit Babbar Khalsa, along with his three accomplices had allegedly assassinated some officials who were discussing the construction of the canal at a Chandigarh office in 1990.

They are hailed in the state for “stopping the construction of the canal” and “saving Punjab’s river waters”.

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Meanwhile, a post was uploaded on Moosewala’s official Instagram account on Thursday with an appeal to all music producers that they should not share or release any of his unfinished tracks with anyone except his father. “Please hand over all the content, whether they are 2-4 lines or a complete song, to his father after the bhog ceremony on June 8. If his works get leaked, we will take legal action against the individuals involved. Only his father will decide everything now..,” read the post.

The SYL canal is an incomplete canal proposed to share water from the rivers Ravi and Beas between Punjab and Haryana. Punjab is against the construction of the canal while Haryana wants it completed at the earliest. In 1982, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi laid the foundation for the canal at Kapoori village in Patiala in the border state.