Punjabi actor turned activist Deep Sidhu, who is wanted in connection with the Red Fort violence on January 26, on Sunday uploaded a video on his verified Facebook account even as teams of Delhi Police raided various places in Punjab to track him down. In the video, he is seen talking in Punjabi and claiming he has not done anything wrong.
In the 15 minute long video titled 'Straight from my Soul' on his verified Facebook page, Sidhu is seen giving an emotional statement.
"... leaving my whole life behind, I came to join in the Punjabis in their protest. But nobody saw anything and I was labelled a traitor. All I did was raise a voice for your rights. Since so many months, I've been meeting everyone on roads, in tents. Now a single man is being made a traitor," he was heard saying.
In just two hours, the video was viewed 19,000 times and received 11,000 comments. Sidhu also attacked BJP MP Sunny Deol for not siding with him “despite him (Sidhu) having worked for him (Deol) for 20 years.” "I have been surviving on oranges and bananas. I am having to defend my father who gave his all to you people and raised his own kids in rented houses. Even now I appeal all you to unite and join the protest.”
After the violence that broke out during the farmers' tractor rally in the national capital on January 26, the Delhi Police have arrested 84 persons in various cases of rioting and causing damage to public property, besides registering 38 cases at different police stations.
The 36-year-old Sidhu is in the eye of a storm for being among the protesters who put up a religious flag atop the Red Fort on Republic Day.