Ottawa [Canada], September 22 : Facing a massive backlash over his controversial social media post amid the diplomatic sabre-rattling between India and Canada, Punjabi-Canadian rapper Shubhneet Singh (popularly known as Shubh) on Thursday said he was "extremely disheartened" with the cancellation of his India tour.
The rapper's ‘Still Rollin India tour’ was cancelled earlier over his alleged support to the Khalistan cause.
In a statement shared on Instagram, Shubhneet Singh said he had been practising hard for his India tour for the past two months and was very excited at the prospect of performing in the country.
Taking to his page on Instagram, the rapper posted, "As a young rapper-singer hailing from Punjab, it was my life's dream to put my music on an international dais. But the recent happenings have tumbled my hard work and progress, and I wanted to say a few words to express my dismay and sorrow."
"I'm extremely disheartened by the cancellation of my tour in India. I was highly amped up and enthusiastic to perform in my country, in front of my people. The preparations were in full swing and I was practicing with my heart and soul for the last two months. And I was very excited, happy, and ready to perform. But I guess destiny had some other plans," he added in his post.
Terming India as his country, he said his "ancestors and Gurus did not blink an eye" when it came to making sacrifices for the country's freedom.
"India is MY country too. I was born here. It is the land of my GURUS and my ANCESTORS, who didn't even blink an eye to make sacrifices for the freedom of this land, for its glory, and for the family. And Punjab is my soul, Punjab is in my blood. Whatever I am today, I am because of being a Punjabi," he added in his Instagram post.
On his earlier post that had sparked only fury, Shubhneet said he intended to pray for Punjab as there were reports of electricity shutdown in the state, adding that he did not intend to hurt anyone's sentiments.
The singer said the accusations hurled at him affected him "deeply".
On Wednesday, BookMyShow announced that Shubhneet's 'Still Rollin Tour for India' had been cancelled.
In a post shared on X, BookMyShow stated, "Singer Shubhneet Singh’s Still Rollin Tour for India stands cancelled. To that end, BookMyShow has initiated a complete refund of the ticket amount for all consumers who had purchased tickets for the show. The refund will be reflected within 7-10 working days in the customer's source account of the original transaction."
The ticket-booking app faced a backlash on social media for hosting a singer branded an alleged Khalistani sympathiser in the wake of his earlier post.
Earlier, on Wednesday, #UninstallBookMyShow started trending on X with some users calling Shubh a 'Khalistani'.
The rapper had shared a distorted map of India on his Instagram stories which he captioned, “Pray for Punjab”.
Reportedly, ace India cricketer Virat Kohli also unfollowed Shubhneet on Instagram amid the backlash.
The diplomatic relations between India and Canada took a turn for the worse after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday accused the Union government of being behind the fatal shooting of wanted Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
India, however, rejected the allegations levelled by the Trudeau administration, terming them "absurd" and "motivated".
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