Sidhu Moose Wala or Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, the Punjabi singer and Congress politician was shot dead in Punjab’s Mansa district by unknown assailants, a day after his security was withdrawn. 

Moose Wala, 27, was declared dead upon being taken to the hospital. Rising to fame with gangster rap, Moose Wala was from Punjab’s Moosa village and was facing four criminal cases, two of which were for obscene scenes.  

Here’s a look at the controversies in Sidhu Moose Wala’s life. 

Hurting Sikh sentiments 

Moose Wala in his track ‘Jatti Jeonay Morh Di Bandook Wargi’, allegedly misused the name of 18th-century Sikh warrior Mai Bhago, hurting the sentiments of the community, and which he later apologized. 

Promoting gun violence 

Moose Wala, whose repertoire includes tracks like ‘Barood’ (gunpowder) was facing charges for promoting violence and gun culture in another of his tracks – ‘Sanju’. 

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In 2020, Moose Wala was booked by the Punjab police under the Arms Act for promoting violence and gun culture again, in his track ‘Panj golian’ (five bullets). Prior to that, Moose Wala was pictured with an AK-47 at a shooting range during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the photograph went viral. 

Beef with AAP 

A month after losing the Punjab assembly polls on the Congress ticket from Mansa, Moose Wala hit out at voters and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in a song titled ‘Scapegoat’. There, he compared workers of Arvind Kejriwal’s party to ‘gaddars’ or traitors. 

The rapper also lashed out at the voters, calling them ambiguous and accusing them of defeating Sikh activist Bibi Paramjit Kaur Khalra. 

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Apart from that, Moose Wala also had a fallout with former collaborators Byg Byrd and Sunny Malton. When stepping into politics and joining Congress the Punjabi singer had told the Indian Express, “I am not coming into politics for status or to earn praise. I want to become a part of the system to transform it. I am joining Congress to raise the voice of people. I am joining Congress as the party has leaders, who have come from common families. For instance Cabinet minister Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, who has risen from a common family.”