June 11 is the birth anniversary of late Punjabi rapper Sidhu Moose Wala (Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu), who was brutally gunned down in daylight on May 29, 2022, in Jawaharke village, Punjab’s Mansa district. Famous for his fearless lyrics and revolutionary songs, Moose Wala lives on through his songs and huge fan base.
In honor of his birth anniversary, three new songs — “0008,” “Neil,” and “Take Notes” were dropped on his official YouTube channel to the euphoria of his fans. The music is as per Moose Wala’s style and the themes in the lyrics, which appealed to his loyal fans worldwide.
But the emotive day was also controversial. The BBC World Service published a two-part documentary on Sidhu Moose Wala’s life and death — without consulting his family. The documentary, “The Killing Call,” follows his rise from boyhood to fame and goes in-depth into the circumstances surrounding his assassination.
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The film includes interviews with Moose Wala’s friends, reporters, and Punjab and Delhi police officials. Significantly, it also has an audio interview with gangster Goldie Brar, the suspected brains behind the assassination of Moose Wala a step the family vehemently disapproves of.
His father Balkaur Singh had previously filed a petition in the Mansa Court to stop the screening of the documentary. The hearing was set for June 12, but BBC uploaded the documentary on YouTube one day prior to the hearing, escalating tensions. Balkaur Singh has also written to the Director General of Police, Maharashtra, seeking the ban of the documentary in Mumbai on grounds of misinformation and non-consent.
The event has generated media ethics, consent, and the right to tell stories about individual loss debate.
