Punjabi singer and Congress leader Sidhu Moosewala was shot dead in Jawaharpur village of Punjab's Mansa district on Sunday as per ABP News sources. He was rushed to the hospital but was declared dead.


The attack comes two days after Punjab Police withdrew the security of 424 people, including him. Moosewala, had contested the Assembly polls on a Congress ticket from Mansa. He was defeated by AAP’s Dr Vijay Singla.


The Congress party offered condolences on the singer's passing away. "The murder of Shri Sidhu Moose Wala, Congress candidate from Punjab & a talented musician, has come as a terrible shock to the Congress party & the entire nation. Our deepest condolences to his family, fans & friends. We stand united & undeterred, at this time of extreme grief," tweeted the official handle of the party.



Who was Sidhu Moosewala
Sidhu Moosewala aka Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu was a famous Punjabi singer, rapper, and actor. Born on June 17, 1993, he hailed from the village of Moosa in the Mansa district of Punjab. He graduated in 2016 from Ludhiana’s Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College in Electrical Engineering.


Sidhu started his music career after moving to Canada with a duet song titled ‘G Wagon’ and became a global sensation with his track ‘So High’ in 2017. In 2018, he released his debut album’ PBX 1’, which peaked at 66th on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart. Also, his single ‘47’ was ranked on UK Singles Chart.


In 2019, Moosewala founded a record label of his name and released numerous tracks on the record label including ‘Sidhu's Anthem’, ‘Mafia Style’, ‘Poison’, and ‘Homicide’.


In 2020, Sidhu was named among the top 50 new artists by The Guardian. Ten of his songs have peaked on the UK Asian chart, two of which have topped the chart. His song ‘Bambiha Bole’ entered the top five on the Global YouTube music chart.


In 2021, he also released ‘Moosetape’ tracks which also gained popularity globally.


Sidhu Moosewala's songs' showed rebellion and it was also one of the reasons for his huge popularity among youth. He had a huge following on social media.  His song ‘So High’ has 450 million views on Youtube, and his other song ‘295’ has garnered 125 million views till now.


He had also tried his hand at acting and had acted in a few Punjabi films including ‘Yes I Am Student’ and ‘Teri Meri Jodi’.


Controversies associated with the singer
Sidhu Moosewala was criticised for his controversial lyrics and for promoting gun culture and violence through his songs. 


The singer landed in a controversy in 2019 for using the name of Mai Bhago, the legendary Sikh woman who led 40 Sikh soldiers in fight against Mughals, “inappropriately” in a “leaked” song which was set to be released shortly. He later tendered an apology in a live video calling it a mistake. Calling himself a devout Sikh, the singer said he did not think that the para in the song will hurt the sentiments of the community.


On May 4, 2020, his two videos flaunting guns went viral. In one of them, he was training with an AK-47 gun, with the video also featuring police officers. Six cops were suspended and the singer was booked under Arms Act by the Barnala police.


Moosewala again created a stir in July 2020 when he released his song ‘Sanju’ in which he compared his charges with Sanjay Dutt and claimed all the charges against him as his badge of honours.


He was also criticised for glorifying Khalistani separatist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale in his song ‘Panjab: My Motherland’. The song also includes visuals from a speech made by Khalistani supporter Bharpur Singh Balbir in the late 1980s.


Foray into Politics
On 3 December 2021, Sidhu joined Congress for the Punjab assembly elections. He contested the Assembly polls on a Congress ticket from Mansa and was defeated by AAP’s candidate Vijay Singla.


In April 2022, he released the song ‘Scapegoat’ on his loss in the assembly polls. Aam Aadmi Party had then alleged that the popular singer called the voters of Punjab "gaddar" (traitors) in the song.