Diljit Dosanjh says he is called ‘Khalani’ in India, separats attack him too: ‘I get abused both sides, don’t know what to do’ | Bollywood News
5 min readEdmontonMay 4, 2026 09:46 AM Diljit Dosanjh is back at using the platform of his concerts to make political messaging. A couple of days ago in Calgary, he stopped his concert midway, triggered a group of protesters waving the Khalan flag in the audience, to tell everyone how much he promotes Punjab everywhere he goes across the world. During his Edmonton, Canada show on May 2, as part of his ongoing Aura tour, Diljit got political yet again in the middle of the show. But this time, the trigger was not an extrem, but the complete opposite — a child.
‘Punjabi aa gaye oye’
During the concert, Diljit addressed the crowd and promised them he’d do his best to ensure they have a great time. He then heard a kid in the audience addressing him. When he asked the kid to say it louder, the kid screamed, “Punjabi aa gaye oye,” the slogan made popular first Diljit back when he became the first Punjabi art ever to perform at Coachella in 2023.
“Nobody can stop a child. A child will say whatever he wants to,” responded Diljit in Punjabi. He then addressed the dichotomy that he gets brickbats from both the political sides — his motherland India as well as separats like Khalan. “When I go to India, they say, ‘Khalani aa gaya oye.’ When I come here, they say something else. I get abuses from both sides. I don’t get where I should go. There’s only one path I know I should follow (while signalling the middle),” he added, as the audience erupted in cheers.
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Diljit’s message to Khalan
A couple of days ago, Diljit stopped his Calgary, Canada concert midway when he spotted a group of protesters waving Khalan flags. He told them that they may keep waving as much as they want, but he’d continue to make Punjab proud wherever he goes. He quoted the recent example of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, where he talked about the 1914 Guru Nanak Jahaz tragedy that took place in Canada to show how long Punjabis have come since then, after he performed at the biggest Punjabi concert outside of India at Vancouver a couple of years ago, just a few miles away from where the above tragedy took place a century ago.
Diljit also defended to appear on popular quiz show Kaun Banega Crorepati, hosted Amitabh Bachchan, that just sitting across someone on television does not pit him against Punjab. Diljit was targeted the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) Khalani group for touching the feet of Bachchan, who’s accused several separats of inciting violence against the Sikh community during the 1984 Sikh Riots following the assassination of his family friend and then-Prime Miner Indira Gandhi.
While Diljit is on the radar of the Khalani groups for this reason, he’s ironically been accused of supporting Khalan India’s right-wing groups. He supported the 2020-2021 Farmers Protests in India, which led to the right wing labelling him as a Khalani supporter, a claim he vehemently denied. He also came under the scanner last year when he starred alongside Pakani actor Hania Aamir in the Punjabi comedy Sardaar Ji 3 months after the Pahalgam terror attacks in Jammu & Kashmir.
Diljit’s dichotomy during Dil-Luminati Tour
Diljit also saw himself torn between both sides during the India leg of his 2024 record-breaking Dil-Luminati Tour. After protesters threatened to disrupt his Indore concert, to no avail, Diljit quoted the city’s legendary Urdu poet Rahat Indori: “Kisi ke baap ka Hindustan thodi hai” (India doesn’t belong to anyone alone). Days later, he was seen hobnobbing with Prime Miner Narendra Modi in New Delhi.Story continues below this ad
Even on the film front, Diljit’s choices have been quite polarizing. He played the titular character and popular anti-establishment Punjabi singer in Imtiaz Ali’s 2024 Netflix India period musical Amar Singh Chamkila. But he also starred as a martyred Indian Air Force pilot in Anurag Singh’s blockbuster period war drama Border 2 earlier this year.
Also Read — Diljit Dosanjh stops Canada concert amid pro-Khalan protests, defends KBC appearance: ‘Only for Punjab’
Honey Trehan, who has directed Diljit in Punjab ’95, based on the life of controversial Sikh officer Jaswant Singh Khalra, addressed this dichotomy on SCREEN Spotlight. “Whatever I’m making, my actors and characters need to be true to that. I have nothing to do with what they do in their personal lives. Diljit’s support has always been there. Whenever I speak to him, he really tries to empathize with me. It’s not something is in our control. We all know the reasons. It’s sad, but we can’t do anything beyond a point. Diljit has been very vocal. He shows up whenever and wherever he can,” said Trehan.
