Punjabi actor and activist Deep Sidhu, who shot into the limelight following the Red Fort violence during the farmers’ rally on Republic Day last year, died in a road accident on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) highway near Sonepat in Haryana on Tuesday, February 15, night. Born on April 2, 1984, to a Punjabi family in Muktsar, Punjab, Sidhu was a  barrister, actor, and activist who worked in Punjabi  films. Sidhu  started his film career with the Punjabi film Ramta Jogi which was produced by actor Dharmendra under his banner Vijayta Films. His delivered hits also include the movie titled Jora 10 Numberia. Sidhu became the winner of Kingfisher Model Hunt and then he took part in Grasim Mr. India and became Grasim Mr. Personality and Grasim Mr. Talented.

Sidhu  walked the ramp in Mumbai for designers like Hemant Trivedi, Rohit Gandhi and others. Somehow he could not connect with the modelling world so he started practising as a lawyer since he has studied law.

His first placement was with Sahara India Pariwar as legal advisor. Then he worked with British law firm called Hammonds. They managed Disney, Sony Pictures and other Hollywood Studios. Then he became legal head of Balaji Telefilms for three and half years. That’s where Ekta Kapoor told him to act but he didn’t start.

Sidhu entered politics during 2019 Indian general election and campaigned for Gurdaspur BJP MP Sunny Deol. He was said to be close to Deol and in December 2020, during farmers protest, farmer unions used Sidhu’s pictures with Prime minister Narendra Modi and Sunny Deol to show the link of BJP and RSS in protests—a claim which was later denied by Sidhu.

Sidhu, arrested on February 9 last year, was named in the charge sheet filed by the Delhi Police in connection with the the violence at the Red Fort on January 26, 2020, following a tractor rally taken out by farmers protesting against the now-repealed three farm laws. The rally descended into chaos after the protesters broke barriers and entered the city, diverging from the pre-decided route, and clashed with security personnel at several places.

Hundreds of them reached the Red Fort and vandalised the monument, and clashed with the police there. On January 25 evening, the actor allegedly delivered a provocative speech at Singhu border. According to the Delhi Police, Sidhu was also seen among those who stormed the Red Fort.

In the charge sheet, the police have attached a video allegedly showing Sidhu throwing away the national flag. “At the very same time (after rioters climbed the ramparts) another member from mob handed him (Sidhu) over the national flag to hoist it alongside the Nishan Sahib, but the individual (Sidhu) over the pole threw away the national flag,” it said. The actor-activist was granted bail on April 17 last year after being interrogated by the Delhi Police and remaining in custody for 70 days.

Man of many shades, loved and hated in equal measure

The world’s opinion about him seemed evenly divided. Lawyer, actor, activist Deep Sidhu attracted admirers and critics in almost equal measure. It was the farmers’ tractor march and the Red Fort violence on Republic Day last year that put Sidhu in the limelight and brought him widespread criticism in its wake. Leading up to that day, Sidhu was seen as a significant social media commentator in Punjab with 5.5 lakh followers on his Facebook page.

He had emerged on the farmers’ agitation stage by organising a massive protest at Delhi’s Shambhu border on September 25, 2020.

The national media, however, noticed him after a video of him arguing with the police in English and terming farmers’ protest ‘a revolution’ went viral. After the Red Fort violence, he remained on the run for several days after being booked by the police. But all through, he never expressed any regret over the events and always insisted that no disrespect was caused to the Tricolour by hoisting of the Nishan Sahib at the Red Fort.

These days, Sidhu was busy campaigning for the Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) candidate Simranjit Singh Mann in Amarnath. A few days back, he had even addressed an impressive gatherings in support of Mann. But that’s not all that was keeping him busy. Before being snatched away by the road accident, Sidhu was preparing for life post the farmers’ agitation.

Talking to The Indian Express last month on the first anniversary of the farmers’ tractor march, Sidhu, who was out on bail, had said that he was working on three Punjabi movies including one on the life of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra.

His first movie was Ramta Jogi was released in 2015. Sidhu, however, became a star with filmmaker Amardeep Gill’s Jora Das Numbria, in which he played lead role of a young gangster.

The release of second chapter of Jora Das Numbria was affected due to the Covid-19 lockdown.

He had told The Indian Express that during the lockdown he read several books by author Ajmer Singh, who wrote mostly about alleged tempering of Punjab and Sikh history and its impact on the state and its politics. He also spoke with admiration for former militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.

It was during this period that he uploaded several videos on social media on Punjab’s history, culture and economy.

The route to this social media stardom involved different feats.

Sidhu also ran a Mumbai-based law firm ‘Lex Legal’ which dealt with intellectual property rights and international law. He then turned to movies.

Sidhu had also won the Kingfisher Model Hunt award before starting his acting career.

His popularity, however, took a hit after the tractor parade. Some farmer unions distanced themselves from Sidhu accusing him of a conspiracy over his links with the BJP MP Sunny Deol. Deep Sidhu had campaigned for Sunny Deol in 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Sidhu always denied allegations of being part of any conspiracy to defame the farmers’ movement, and stayed popular among a big section of the farmer protesters till the very end of the agitation.

The actor-activist’s family had shifted to Bathinda, while their ancestral village was Udekaran in Muktsar. His brother, Mandeep, who lives in Ludhiana, too had received NIA summons during the farmers’ agitation.

(With inputs from Kamaldeep Singh Brar, The Indian Express)