Moose Wala’s ‘last ride’ on his favourite tractor
HIS BODY WAS CARRIED ON THE 5911 TRACTOR, WHICH WAS BEDECKED WITH FLOWERS AND HAD FEATURED IN MANY OF HIS MUSIC VIDEOS
MOOSA (MANSA) : Emotions ran high as a sea of mourners bid a tearful adieu to singer-politician Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu - better known by his stage name of Sidhu Moose Wala - who was cremated at his native village Moosa in Mansa district on Tuesday afternoon.
The body of 28-year-old Moose Wala, who was shot dead at Jawahar Ke village, just 5km from his residence, on Sunday, was brought to his home in Moosa village amid tight security on Tuesday morning from the Mansa civil hospital, where the postmortem was conducted.
The singer’s family, including his mother Charan Kaur and father Balkaur Singh, were inconsolable as they sat beside his body. He was cremated in his ancestral agricultural land, which he had even ploughed a few weeks ago.
Emotion was high at the cremation ceremony as it did with the many symbolisms that associated with the sometimes controversial but deeply admired life and work of the 28-year-old rapper. Chief among them was the uncanny resemblance that Tuesday’s ceremony – the outpouring of grief by thousands who came from other states — resembled Moose Wala’s song “Last Ride”; his body was carried on the 5911 tractor, which was bedecked with flowers and had featured in many of his music videos. The singer was dressed as a groom, as per a ritual followed in Punjab after a young unmarried man dies.
Notwithstanding the scorching heat, mourners joined the funeral procession as Moose Wala’s father and mother stood on the tractor with folded hands, accompanying their son on his final journey.
Some of his fans wore t-shirts with Moose Wala’s picture printed on them. The singer’s father even took off his turban on seeing the sea on mourners.
Earlier in the day, Moose Wala’s body was brought to his home amid tight security on Tuesday morning from Mansa civil hospital. “Aina pyaar sab toh laike, hun tu sanu chhad ke chala gaya (after getting a lot of love from everyone, now you have left us),” his father Balkaur Singh was seen saying. His mother Charan Kaur was seen trying to console her husband as fans from Punjab, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Chandigarh queued up in large numbers to get the last glimpse of the rapper.
Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring was present during the funeral procession. A heavy police force was deployed at the slain singer’s residence as well as at the cremation site. BJP state president Ashwani Sharma and former cabinet minister Rana Gurmeet Sodhi also visited the singer’s house later in the day.
A woman fan from Shimla in Himachal Pradesh, Tanu, came all the way to Moosa on a bike with a friend to attend the last rites of Moose Wala.
In the morning, the supporters of Moosewala even raised slogans against chief minister Bhagwant Mann and the Aam Aadmi Party government terming them responsible for his death.