As Sikhs across the globe were mourning the deaths of thousands of their compatriots during a ruling party–sponsored massacre in 1984, a Sikh pop star and actor was hanging out with a Bollywood actor whose actions in the aftermath remain controversial. Congress party leaders have been accused of instigating the genocide following the assassination of then Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Famous Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan was close to the Gandhi family at the time and ran for office with Congress following the ugly events of 1984. And riding on Congress’s anti-Sikh tide turned him into a member of the Lok Sabha.
Forty-one years later, the most famous Sikh entertainer on the planet, Diljit Dosanjh, recently appeared on Bachchan’s famous quiz show, Kaun Banega Crorepati, on the anniversary of the bloodshed. Ironically, Dosanjh has played important roles in films based on what happened back in 1984.
The two men’s chitchat didn’t touch upon the anniversary of the Sikh genocide. Bachchan insisted that he is half Sikh because of the heritage of his mom. For his part, Dosanjh never dared raise the issue of 1984.
However, both of them were able to raise 5,000,000 rupees (nearly $80,000) for Punjab, which is recovering from the recent floods. Volunteers with the humanitarian group Global Sikhs were present in the audience, and footage of the devastation was played on the occasion. Both men kept praising each other as the show ended with a message of solidarity for Punjab, with some in the audience wiping away tears. The two stars appeared to be unmindful of the pain of the survivors of 1984 who grieve around this time of the year.
For the record, although Bachchan was born to a Sikh mother, he has never raised his voice for justice in any meaningful way for victims of the anti-Sikh pogroms. Rather, back in 1984, he was seen on the Indian public TV broadcaster Doodarshan standing next to the body of Gandhi lying in state as mobs could be heard and seen raising “blood for blood” slogans.
I was 14 years old back then and still remember those images. It was therefore very heartbreaking to see Dosanjh, one of my favourite Punjabi singers, appearing on this show hosted by a figure of controversy for some in the Sikh community. What really made me angry was seeing Dosanjh bending before Bachchan and touching his feet as a mark of respect. As if this were not enough, Dosanjh sported a pink turban that matched the colour of Bachchan’s coat, which only suggests that this must have been planned much earlier.
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Admittedly, both Dosanjh and Bachchan are stars who have proven their talent in the entertainment industry and have the power to help victims of the floods. But this chemistry was very complex at a different level. Even though Dosanjh has broken many barriers being a turbaned Sikh performer in a Hindu-dominated film industry, he has also faced tremendous backlash from the Hindu Right for standing up for Sikhs during the 2020-21 Indian farmers protests.
The Sikh entertainer still had a choice to make. He could have held Bachchan and the Gandhi family accountable for what happened in 1984 either by refusing to appear on the show on October 31 or by not bending before Bachchan on such a sensitive anniversary. Dosanjh missed an important opportunity that would have turned him into a real superstar in my mind.
Likewise, Bachchan too needs to come clean on the role of his former Congress party colleagues in the massacre, including the late former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, who succeeded his mother. Otherwise, Bachchan should stop bragging about the Sikh roots of his mother.
Gurpreet Singh is a B.C. author and co-founder of Radical Desi. In addition, he hosts a daily news and current affairs show on YouTube called Navin Taazi. Follow Gurpreet Singh on Bluesky @gurpreetradical.bsky.social. Follow Pancouver on X @PancouverMedia and Bluesky @pancouver.bsky.social. The publication is also on Instagram @PancouverMedia.
