From 'English Speaking Protester' To Man Who Instigated Farmers At Red Fort: Who Is Deep Sidhu?
The first time most people outside Punjab saw or heard about Deep Sidhu was in November last year when a video of him went viral.
In the video, Sidhu was seen talking to cops blocking the road for the caravan of farmers who were on their way to Delhi.
Initially, the video went viral on social media as the 'English speaking farmer', but as people began digging up more details about him, another picture of him emerged.
Later, it was revealed that he was an actor and had worked mostly in Punjabi films.
Studied law
Sidhu was born in 1984 in Punjab¡¯s Muktsar district. He had studied law and was also a part of the Bar for a brief period before he won the Kingfisher Model Hunt award.
A further digging up of his past showed that he was active politically and had campaigned for BJP's MP from Gurdaspur, Sunny Deol in the 2019 elections.
On Tuesday after the video went viral, Deol distanced himself from Sidhu and said he has "no relation" with the actor turned activist.
Ever since he has been in the limelight, controversies have followed him.
Earlier this month Sidhu was among those the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had summoned in connection with a case registered in Delhi by NIA on December 15, 2020 against Sikhs For Justice under stringent provisions of law, including UAPA and sedition.
Now it has also come to light that even before the events that unfolded in Red Fort on Tuesday, Sidhu had apparently fallen out with some of the farmers' unions.
Haryana farmer leader and Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) state president Gurnam Singh Chaduni has accused Sidhu of misleading farmers.
Singh on Tuesday blamed Sidhu for the Red Fort incident. The BKU leader said in a video message, "What he (Sidhu) has done today is very condemnable. We had no programme to visit the Red Fort. He went there as a rebel and he people misled people. We did not know that Sidhu would go to the Red Fort."
Chadhuni said that Sidhu has been building strongholds for a long time and speaks against the farmer leaders.
The Samkyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of 41 farmer unions that is leading the protest against the three central farm laws, also disassociated itself from those who indulged in violence during the tractor parade and alleged that some "antisocial elements" infiltrated their otherwise peaceful movement.
