Balkaur Singh, the father of late Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala, has accused the Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government of harassment after the birth of their second son.
Balkaur Singh and his wife Charan Kaur welcomed a baby boy on Sunday, almost 22 months after Sidhu Moosewala was killed in Punjabs’ Mansa district.
In a video message posted on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram on Tuesday, Balkaur Singh alleged that the Punjab government was questioning the family over the “legality” of the child.
“Due to the blessings of Waheguru, we got our Shubhdeep (Sidhu Moosewala) back,” Balkaur Singh said in the video message. “However, the government has been harassing me since morning, asking me to furnish documents of the baby. They are questioning me to prove that this child is legal.”
“I want to request the government, particularly chief minister Bhagwant Mann, to till the treatment of my wife gets over. I belong here and will come to any place you call me (for questioning)…I will provide all the legal documents,” Balkaur Singh added.
Opposition leaders in the state criticised the Punjab government over the allegations by Sidhu Moosewala’s father. Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring urged the state government to stop harassing the family.
“BhagwantMann ji you are probably the only Punjabi who has not yet congratulated Balkaur Sidhu ji on the birth of his newborn son and now your administration is bothering him with its legal hurdles,” Warring said. “Request you to stop harassing the Sidhu family & let them be happy for once!”
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also said it was “very shocking” to hear Sidhu Moosewala’s father’s statement.
“It’s very shocking to hear Sidhu Moosewala’s father’s statement in which he alleged that the BhagwantMann’s administration is forcing him to show documents of the newborn baby to prove the child’s legality,” BJP spokesperson RP Singh wrote on X.
He added: “CM Maan Sahib, How low you can stoop”
According to media reports, Moosewala’s mother underwent in vitro fertilization (IVF) to conceive the baby.
Sidhu Moosewala’s killing
Sidhu Moosewala, who was the then-only son of the couple, was shot dead by six assailants at Jawahar Ke village in Punjab’s Mansa on May 29, 2022.
The SIT probing Moosewala’s murder has filed four chargesheets, including three supplementary chargesheets, against 34 accused, including gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi, Goldy Brar and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, claiming the murder was part of a series of revenge killings between the Bishnoi and Bambiha gangs.
Of the total 34 accused, the police had arrested 29. Two of them, Mandeep Singh and Manmohan Singh, were killed during a clash in Goindwal jail in February.