 "Moose Wala")
Some wore a t-shirt with Sidhu Moosewala's picture and the message "legends never die" as scores of people from Punjab, Haryana and other states gathered at the grain market here on Wednesday for the "antim ardas" of the slain Punjabi singer.
Addressing the gathering at the "final prayers", the singer's emotional father said he still does not understand what was his son's fault that led to his killing.
They won't rest until the singer gets justice, he said. Moosewala was shot dead in Punjab's Mansa district On May 29.
Notwithstanding the scorching heat, a large number of people, including children and women, assembled from parts of Punjab and other states to attend the "antim ardas" and "bhog" ceremony.
Many people were seen carrying posters mentioning May 29 as a "black day" and demanded justice for the singer. Some were seen carrying flags with the singer's picture.
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Security personnel in large numbers were deployed.
The roads leading to the venue witnessed a huge rush of people coming from parts of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Chandigarh and Delhi.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann in a condolence message said the demise of the singer was a huge and irreparable loss for the family and fans.
The message which was handed over to the aggrieved family by Cabinet minister Dr Baljeet Kaur.
Mann said the entire state government pays tributes to the singer who has carved a niche for himself in the field of music and entertainment.
He said though Moosewala was a globally acclaimed singer, he remained firmly connected with his roots and continued to live with his family in their ancestral village.
Several Punjabi singers and artistes, including Amrit Mann, Kulwinder Billa, Mandy Takhar and Kaur B attended the bhog ceremony.
Three friends from Ganganagar in Rajasthan reached Mansa at 4 am on Wednesday to pay respects to Moosewala. We were shocked when we came to know about the singer's death, said one of them.
They were sporting t-shirts with pictures of Moosewala and the message "legends never die".
A group of youngsters, who were carrying posters of Moosewala, came from Fatehabad and Sirsa districts of Haryana to attend the ceremony and they demanded that those behind the heinous crime be brought to justice at the earliest.
Three friends from Haryana's Panipat said they loved Moosewala's songs.
Several children who came with their families could be seen dressed like the singer.
A family from Ludhiana distributed badges carrying pictures of Moosewala to people. Several people distributed saplings for plantation in the memory of Moosewala.
Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, who was also present at the ceremony, said Moosewala was like his younger brother.
"Farewell my brother! At the Bhog and Antim Ardas ceremony of Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu Moosewla. To the world he was a great singer, to me he was like a younger brother. Will always remain in my thoughts and memories. And for his parents, I'll always be there," said Warring in a tweet.
Addressing the gathering, Moosewala's father Balkaur Singh said he doesn't understand why his son was killed.
"Nobody has ever lodged any complaint against him," he said as he vowed to get justice for his son.
His family has been ruined but he does not want any other family to suffer the same way, he said.
"Until we get justice, we will not rest," he said.
He also shared anecdotes from the Moosewala's childhood and later life and called him a "simple youth".
He said their pain has lessened to a great extent with scores of families sharing their grief.
Singh cautioned people against fake social media accounts of Moosewala and asked them not to pay heed to any news or information being circulated on them.
Moosewala's mother, Charan Kaur called May 29 "a black day for the family". She urged people to plant saplings in the memory of her son.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
