Srinagar: Punjabi singer Diljit Dosanjh is in the line of fire over his recent visit to Kashmir after he urged a crowd at a concert in Mumbai to visit the region, asserting that “armed forces are in full control”.
The two-day visit earlier this week triggered a flurry of reactions with the Opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Jammu and Kashmir accusing Dosanjh of belittling the “warmth and hospitality” of Kashmiris.
Some netizens appreciated Dosanjh, who has a cumulative following of more than 38 million followers on X, Facebook and Instagram, for showcasing “positive image” of Kashmir through his social media posts. Others noted that his remarks at the Mumbai concert was an oblique admission that the situation in Kashmir “was far from normal”.
A ruling National Conference (NC) legislator sought to warn the singer against whitewashing the “struggles” of people during a visit to the Mir Behri locality in the interiors of the Dal Lake which is among the poorest in Jammu and Kashmir’s capital Srinagar.
At a concert on December 19 (Thursday) at Mahalaxmi Race Course in Mumbai, part of the singer’s ‘The Dil-Luminati India Tour’, Dosanjh urged the crowd to visit Kashmir.
Also read: Diljit Dosanjh, Tricolour and the Fragile Place For Minorities Within the Nationalism Narrative
“Have you been to Kashmir?” Dosanjh asked the crowd, evoking joyful shouts, “Please go and visit Kashmir. It is actually heaven. Someone has rightly said that it is a heaven on earth.”
He added: “Our armed forces are in full control. I had a great experience. If you haven’t been to Kashmir, please go there”.
Mohit Bhan, a PDP spokesperson objected to the remarks, saying that Kashmir was not ‘heaven on earth’ because of the “Army’s control”.
“It’s heaven because of the people, our warmth & hospitality that we offered to you and everyone else, our centuries old culture of bonhomie. Don’t erase the very essence of what makes Kashmir extraordinary. It’s resilient and generous people,” he said on X.
Kashmir isn’t ‘Heaven on Earth’ because of the Army’s control, @diljitdosanjh.
It’s heaven because of the people , our warmth & hospitality that we offered to you and everyone else , our centuries old culture of bonhomie. Don’t erase the very essence of what makes Kashmir… pic.twitter.com/8gznD8mNfbAdvertisement— Mohit Bhan موہت بھان (@buttkout) December 20, 2024
Speaking in Dosanjh’s favour, Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) spokesperson Salman Nizami said that the singer’s comment is being “misquoted”. “By ‘control,’ he refers to the control over terror activities, allowing people to freely visit and experience the beauty of Kashmir,” he said on X.
Diljit’s comment on Kashmir is being misquoted. By ‘control,’ he refers to the control over terror activities, allowing people to freely visit and experience the beauty of Kashmir. @diljitdosanjh https://t.co/4lMrPt7ACS
— Salman Nizami (@SalmanNizami_) December 20, 2024
The Punjabi singer shared a number of photos and videos from the Kashmir visit which garnered hundreds of thousands of views on his social media accounts.
In one video titled ‘Sukoon’, Dosanjh could be seen on a visit to Khanqah-e-Moula, one of Kashmir’s oldest mosques located on the banks of Jhelum river in downtown Srinagar.
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The one-minute video showed Dosanjh swirling and chasing pigeons in the lawn of the mosque and shaking hands with locals as Pakistani singer Atif Aslam croons ‘Wohi Khuda Hai’, a popular poem written by Pakistani poet Muzaffar Warsi, in the background.
The video, which had garnered over 1.2 million ‘likes’ on Instagram and half-a-million views on X when this report was filed, also showed Dosanjh paying obeisance at Srinagar’s Gurdwara Chatti Padshahi, one of the oldest in Kashmir which was built in honour of Guru Har Gobind.
Striking all the right notes, Dosanjh was seen donning a Kashmiri pheran, the wooden cloak worn in winter, while on a visit to the shrine of Zain-ul-Abideen, a 14th century Sufi mystic, in Aishmuqam town of Anantnag, in a second video.
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In another video, the singer was seen visiting Mir Behri locality in the interiors of Dal Lake where he sipped Kashmiri kahwa on a floating shikara, remarking “bohat accha” (very good) as a local youngster sitting on the edge of the boat played Rabab.
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Tanvir Sadiq, the chief spokesperson of the ruling NC, while praising the singer, said that behind the “beauty” of Mir Behri were “hardships” and “struggles” of its nearly 30,000 inhabitants, who struggle with the lack of basic facilities such as a public health centre, a higher secondary school, proper connectivity and employment opportunities.
“Their hardships are further compounded by restrictions on building lake-friendly homes due to arbitrary judicial roadblocks, while wealthier areas enjoy privileges unavailable to them. While as their MLA, I am working to address these challenges, let’s hope we can collectively strive to improve the lives of these residents,” Sadiq, who was elected as member of legislative assembly from Zadibal constituency of Srinagar, wrote on X.
Dear @diljitdosanjh Pajji,
Thank you for highlighting the beauty of Mir Behri, the heart of Dal Lake, through your incredible videos and pictures. It’s truly heartening to see the world admire its unique charm.
However, I wanted to highlight an important point: behind this… https://t.co/29SZSrwueQ
— Tanvir Sadiq (@tanvirsadiq) December 21, 2024
Dosanjh was recently accused of deliberately omitting the Indian flag emoji in a social media post on ‘Panjab’, forcing the Punjabi actor and singer to issue a clarification.
‘The Dil-Luminati India Tour’ of Dosanjh, which started on October 26 in Delhi, has generated its fair share of controversy with its stops in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Lucknow. The final concert is scheduled in Guwahati on December 29.
