Deep Sidhu: 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.

Filmmaker Gill said: “Deep Sidhu’s mother had died when he was child and he was self-made person. Deep Sidhu was living in Mumbai for almost 15 years he had a very successful career as lawyer and worked with big law firms. He was also doing modelling. This is how he developed relations with Deol family. He was a very intelligent and sharp guy. He would know if I would make a little last minute change in the dialogue or script that I had discussed with him before start of the movie production.”

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.