Biography
Sandeep Singh Sidhu (2 April 1984 – 15 February 2022), also known as Deep Sidhu, was an Indian film actor and Sikh activist. He worked in Punjabi films, starting his acting career with the film Ramta Jogi produced by Dharmendra under his banner Vijayta Films. Sidhu entered political arena in 2019, campaigning for the BJP candidate Sunny Deol, and later trying to take a leading role in the 2020-2021 farmers' protest. A few months before his death in a road accident, he founded a Punjabi Sikh socio-political organisation Waris Punjab De.
He worked in legal positions for a few years, as a legal advisor to Sahara India Pariwar, in the British legal firm Hammonds, and as the legal head of Balaji Telefilms. Later, he founded a law firm Lex Legal in Mumbai.He made his acting debut in Ramta Jogi, which brought him the PTC Punjabi Film Award for Best Male Debut in Punjabi Cinema in 2016. He rose to greater prominence with Jora 10 Numbaria, in which he played the lead role of a gangster, making him a star. He followed that with Rang Panjab, Jora: The Second Chapter (2020) and Saade Aale (2022).The release of Jora: The Second Chapter, which was a sequel to the successful Jora 10 Numbaria, was affected by the COVID-19 lockdowns in India. Saade Aale was released in April 2022, two months after his death.
Sidhu entered the political sphere during the 2019 Indian general election when he campaigned for the actor-turned-politician Sunny Deol, who was the BJP candidate for the Gurdaspur constituency. He was said to have been close to Deol and his pictures with Deol and prime minister Narendra Modi got circulated later in 2020. During the Covid-19 lockdown in India, Sidhu is said to have read the works of Ajmer Singh, about Punjab and Sikh history. This led to his political awakening, as Ajmer Singh had argued that Punjab's history has been "tampered with".He uploaded several videos on social media on Punjab's history, culture and economy, and acquired a wide following.
Consequences of Deep Sidhu
When farmers protests began in Punjab in late 2020, against the BJP government's farm laws, the artistes of Punjab were prodded on social media into supporting the protests. Deep Sidhu organised a protest at Shambu on Punjab–Haryana border on 25 September, along with a former gangster called Lakha Sidhana, which came to be called the "Shambu Morcha". The artist-organised protests did not meet with the approval of the farmer unions, who saw them as upstaging their own protests. They also said that these protests were misguiding the youth.
Sidhu and Sidhana were asking the protesters to broaden the agenda beyond the farm bills into a general protest against the Union government, in opposition to an alleged "attack on Punjab". Sidhu also rebuffed the objections of the farmer unions saying that he would not abide by directives that were issued from closed-door meetings. After the "symbolic protest" on 25 September, he launched a permanent "Shambu Morcha on 4 October, which continued, until, in collaboration with Bharatiya Kisan Union (Sidhupur), the morcha broke the barricades at the Shambu barrier and marched towards Delhi. This forced the other unions also to march to Delhi.
The Delhi Police booked Sidhu and Sadhana for instigating violence at the Red Fort. After a preliminary investigation, they concluded that "there was a pre-conceived and well-coordinated plan to break the agreement between the Delhi Police and the leaders of protesting organisations." Sidhu was arrested on 9 February 2021 from Karnal in Haryana on charge of instigating farmers to storm the Red Fort and causing violence.[40][41] He pleaded innocence and claimed he was not involved in any violence nor incited others. He said that he had exercised his right to peaceful protest and was implicated as he was a "popular face" present "at the wrong place at the wrong time". After his bail plea was approved, he was arrested a second time on a police case filed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). ASI had accused Sidhu of damaging the monument and vandalism by the rioters. His lawyer denounced the second arrest after bail as unconstitutional. He was released on bail on 16 April 2021.