During a sell-out concert in Kuala Lumpur, when Punjabi pop star Diljit Dosanjh saw the tricolour waving in the audience, he stopped to speak, with characteristic candour, on nationalism. “I am with my country but as for these matches (India-Pakistan Asia Cup matches) that have happened now, there is a massive difference in these and my film. Our film was shot before (the Pahalgam attack)… They exerted much force to show me against the nation,” he said. Dosanjh was contrasting the matches with the brouhaha over his film Sardaar Ji 3, co-starring Pakistani actor Hania Aamir, which was not released in India. But the point he was making about nationalism was hard to miss: Culture becomes a soft target when it comes to cross-border ties.
From standing up for farmers during the unrest against the farm laws in 2020-21 to showcasing his roots at the Met Gala this year to weaving the complexities of belonging and identity into his music, Dosanjh has never shied away from speaking his mind. At a concert in Manchester last year, for instance, he gifted a pair of shoes to a Pakistani fan and said, “Borders are made by politicians… our music is common.”
In a world where geopolitics often sours relationships between neighbouring nations, it is culture and sport that have the power to sow seeds of empathy. These connections, though fragile, are invaluable and must be nurtured, especially during times of animosity. The largeness of spirit required to celebrate shared stories is not a betrayal of patriotism. If anything, it is a deeper, more inclusive version of it.
