Amar Singh Chamkila to Sidhu Moosewala, old wounds fester

Sameer Singh

Bathinda, May 31

The murder of singer Sidhu Moosewala has reopened wounds of the past, when popular artistes from the state were targeted.

Stem gangster culture

The unfortunate incident has brought back bitter memories of the past. The state has to put a leash on gangster culture. — JC Parinda, Senior executive member, Punjabi Sahit Sabha

In 1988, revolutionary poet Avtar Singh Sandhu, popularly known as Pash, was assassinated by militants at his Talwandi Salem village in Jalandhar district when he was 37. Similarly, Amar Singh Chamkila, a popular Punjabi singer, was only 27 when he was killed along with his wife the same year.

Unlike his contemporaries whose artistic creations (songs) were primarily based on romance and heroism at the time (1980s), Chamkila found his muse in highlighting day-to-day problems being encountered by people in rural Punjab at the time. His songs focused on drug abuse, alcoholism, extramarital affairs and masculinity and had huge fan base among youngsters.

Punjabi actor Virendar Singh, cousin of Dharmendra, was shot aged 40 while shooting for a film in Ludhiana in 1988.

Dilshad Akhtar, another popular Punjabi singer, was allegedly murdered during a wedding at a Gurdaspur village in 1996. In 2018, singer Parmish Verma was injured in an attack by gangsters in Mohali.

JC Parinda, a senior executive member, Punjabi Sahit Sabha, said: “Artistes were targeted during militancy and it took a lot for Punjab to return to normalcy. If stringent measures are not taken now, the state may be pushed towards the dark days again.”

“The unfortunate incident has brought back bitter memories of the past. I am not much of a fan of his work, but he was an artiste with an immense fan base. The state has to put a leash on this gangster culture to ensure peace and prosperity,” he said.