Punjabi-Canadian rapper Shubhneet Singh, also known as Shubh, who received harsh criticism for his divisive social media post amid a diplomatic tussle between India and Canada, said he was "extremely disheartened" by the cancellation of his India tour on Thursday. The rapper's 'Still Rollin India tour' was previously cancelled due to his purported support for the movement of Khalistan.
In a statement shared on Instagram, Shubhneet Singh said he had been practising hard for his India tour for the past two months and was very excited at the prospect of performing in the country.
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"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," the rapper posted on Instagram.
"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.
In his earlier post, Shubhneet stated that it was not his intention to offend anyone and that he intended to pray for Punjab due to rumours of an electricity outage in the state. The musician claimed that the accusations levelled upon him had "deeply" hurt him.
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The diplomatic row was triggered between India and Canada after the Canadian Prime Minister accused Indian government agents of killing a notorious Khalistani terrorist in June in British Columbia. Trudeau claimed that his government had credible evidence linking the murder of Nijjar to Indian agents.
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Rejected Trudeau's allegations strongly, India on Tuesday expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move to Ottawa's expulsion of an Indian official over the case. India called the allegation put by the Canadian PM "absurd" and "motivated".
(With Inputs From Agencies)