Popular singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh dedicated his Guwahati concert on Sunday night to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, praising his inherent simplicity, grace, achievements and service to the nation while exhorting today’s youths to learn from his life.
Dosanjh performed at a packed and peaceful Sarusajai Sports Complex, the central venue of the 2007 National Games held successfully in Assam when Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister and Tarun Gogoi the chief minister.
He paid glowing tributes to Dr Singh after the opening song and also uploaded the 2.32 minute video of his tribute on his Instagram account with the caption “Today’s Concert is dedicated to Dr. Manmohan Singh Ji. DIL-LUMINATI TOUR Year 24”.
Dosanjh’s tribute assumes significance because “prominent” celebrities from the movie and sports world seemed to be shying away from “even” acknowledging Singh’s departure, something which was flagged by TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Sunday afternoon.
Singh died in Delhi on Thursday night at the age of 92.
In a brief moving speech, Diljit said Singh lived a “very simple life” and even when somebody spoke ill about him, he never responded, a difficult thing to duck in politics.
To drive home his point, he pointed out, “Have you witnessed the Lok Sabha session? Our politicians fight like nursery class students! They too don’t fight like them. But I don’t want to get into this. But Dr Manmohan Singh ji never hit back. We need to learn this from his life.”
Diljit added, “There is shayari ( a form of poetry) he often used, “Hazaron jawab o se meri khamoshi acchi, na jane kitne sawalon ki aabrun rakhe. My silence is better than a thousand answers, it saved the dignity of many a question. This is something our youth should imbibe, I should imbibe no matter how ill somebody speaks about us, distract us. Your goal should be clear, focus should be on our work... Today’s youth have to learn from his life, I have to learn, we all have to learn to focus on our work.”
Hours before his Guwahati show, TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee had taken to X to slam “prominent” celebrities for their “reluctance” to even acknowledge Dr. Singh’spassing.
Banerjee had said India lost one of its “greatest” statesmen in Dr Singh. “... However, it is both shocking and disheartening to see the complete silence from prominent figures in the SPORTS and FILM industries — individuals who are often celebrated as ‘ROLE MODELS’ . Their reluctance to even acknowledge Dr. Singh’s passing raises uncomfortable questions about their priorities, responsibility and integrity,” the post said.
Banerjee added, “It appears this silence is driven by fear of government backlash, as staying silent on national issues has become the norm for many of these so-called ‘ICONS’...”
