Canadian PM meets Diljit Dosanjh | ‘Deliberate mischief through wordplay’: BJP slams Trudeau for not naming ‘India’ in post

PM Trudeau made a surprise entry ahead of his performance at Rogers Centre, a stadium in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada on Saturday night.

Trudeau also shared pictures on his Instagram page and praised Canada for being a diverse country.

“Stopped by the Rogers Centre to wish @diljitdosanjh good luck before his show. Canada is a great country – one where a guy from Punjab can make history and sell out stadiums. Diversity isn’t just our strength. It’s a super power,” he said in the post.

Dosanjh shared the video of Trudeau’s visit with his 21.7 million followers on Instagram ahead of his concert on Saturday night. In the video, Trudeau and Dosanjh can be seen greeting each other with folded hands, which is then followed by a tight hug.

Trudeau also posed with the singer’s team as they welcomed him with the musician’s trademark line: “Punjabi aa gaye oye (Punjabis are here).”

“Diversity is Canda’s strength. Prime Minister @justinpjtrudeau came to check out history in the making: we sold out the Rogers Centre!”,” Dosanjh captioned the video and photos from Trudeau’s visit.

BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa, however, questioned Trudeau for not mentioning the name of India in his post, saying that with this action he has hurt the dignity of his position.

“The concert of Diljit Dosanjh was good…The picture posted by Canadian PM Justin Trudeau with Diljit made us all feel very proud…Later when he (Canadian PM Justin Trudeau) expressed his feelings for Diljit Dosanjh, he did not even think that it was right to take the name of India. A Prime Minister should not have done this as the post of Prime Minister has a very big dignity. He should have maintained that dignity and tweeted accordingly,” Sirsa said in a video message.

Prior to this, he also replied on Trudeau’s post and called his not naming of India as a “deliberate mischief through wordplay.” “Let me correct this, Mr. Prime Minister- where one guy from INDIA can make history and sell out stadiums. Your gesture of lauding a fantastic artist like @diljitdosanjh has been totally overshadowed by your deliberate mischief through wordplay,” Sirsa said on X.

Dosanjh, a popular singer with hits songs such as “Lover”, “Proper Patola”, “GOAT” and “Born to Shine” to his credit, is currently on his “Dil-Luminati Tour”.

The singer made history by becoming the first Punjabi artist to headline concerts in both the Canadian stadiums — Vancouver’s BC Place and Toronto’s Rogers Centre, which have the seating capacity of over 54,000 and 49,000, respectively.

He later shared photographs and videos from his sold out performance where fans can be seen screaming and dancing with joy as he takes to stage.

This is the latest milestone in the singer’s growing global popularity. He became the first Punjabi artist to perform at Coachella 2023 and recently made an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

He also earned critical praise for his performance as slain 80s Punjabi singer Amar Singh Chamkila in the biopic directed by Imtiaz Ali.