Controversy has surfaced in Canadian politics again, with the leader of a prominent social democratic party, the New Democratic Party (NDP), being found to have close links with a Canadian Sikh rapper known for promoting the need for "Khalistan", or an independent homeland for Sikhs.
According to a report published in the website of the daily Toronto Sun, Jagmeet Singh has personal ties with rapper Chani Natt, who is known to glorify violence and promote an independent state of Khalistan.
According to the Toronto Sun, the YouTube videos of Chani Natt, a Canadian rapper with a large follower on social media, glorifies violence and promotes Khalistani independence.
The videos, often depicting violence and terrorism, have been viewed millions of times.
Canadian journalist Candice Malcolm took to Twitter to share a video of Natt.
"Here is Natt with his crew of gun-wielding thugs waiving a Khalistani independence flag. The Vancouver Canucks jersey is a nice touch, reminds us this is happening in our own backyard," she wrote.
Here are a few pics from Instagram of Jagmeet Singh and Canadian Sikh rapper Chani Natt. They seem to be close friends, and Natt endorses Singh in the captions. pic.twitter.com/apSsbWHhJX
— Candice Malcolm (@CandiceMalcolm) March 16, 2018
Here are a few screen shots from Natt's music videos, where he promotes gun violence, glorifies Khalistani terrorists, and depicts the assassination of Indira Gandhi, the first female Prime Minister of India who was killed by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984. pic.twitter.com/htVWU37PbR
— Candice Malcolm (@CandiceMalcolm) March 16, 2018
Here is Natt with his crew of gun-wielding thugs waiving a Khalistani independence flag. The Vancouver Canucks jersey is a nice touch, reminds us this is happening in our own backyard. pic.twitter.com/q1pmMekNgJ
— Candice Malcolm (@CandiceMalcolm) March 16, 2018
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is aligning himself with some pretty sketchy people. In my latest news piece in the Sun, I shine light on his friendship with a rapper whose violent music videos promote Khalistani extremism. https://t.co/KEGFpOw68v
— Candice Malcolm (@CandiceMalcolm) March 16, 2018
The daily suggests that Natt is a close personal friend of NDP leader Jagmeet Singh, and had even posted a photograph of both together on Instagram on February 8, 2017.
The Instagram caption read as follows: “Looked up to this guy for a while!! Never thought we would become friends one day and hang out. It's an honour to have him as a brother.”
Another photo of Singh and Natt, posted on July 6, 2017, includes the caption “full support”.
A third photo, from September 19, 2017, Natt writes , “With love and courage (love) Jagmeet Singh. Vote for the boyyy.”
Neither Singh nor Natt have responded to questions from the Toronto Sun.
According to the Toronto Sun, Natt has a large following on social media and his YouTube videos, which often depict violence and terrorism, have allegedly been viewed millions of times.
For instance, his song 'ROOSE' features images of men carrying military equipment, including an assortment of guns and bullets, wearing black turbans, dark sun glasses and T-shirts that read: “INDIA'S MOST WANTED.”
The Toronto Sun web site further states that these men are seen waving a flag of the erstwhile Soviet Union and the yellow Khalistani independence flag. Interlaced with the modern images of Natt and his gun-wielding gang, the web site also reveals that there are historic images that glorify the Sikh militants who were active during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in India.
The Toronto Sun suggests and reports that the video may have been filmed in Surrey, British Columbia. It says that the video shows one man wearing a Vancouver Canucks jersey and several cars having British Columbia license plates.
The YouTube description reads, “Dedicated to the Shaheeds (martyrs) of the Sikh nation,” the daily reports, adding that this video has been viewed over 1.3 million times.
Another video titled 'KAALI,' shows a memo entitled “Khalistan Commando Force”.
The video shows Natt among other heavily armed men, as well as historic footage of armed Sikh militants in India. The historic footage also shows an actor firing a gun at a photo of the first woman Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, who was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984.
One part of the song, according to the Toronto Sun web site, goes as follows, "Black turbans, black beards, black scarfs (sic scarves) with black AK-47s. We kill people, we're courageous terrorists (or bandits)."
Earlier, during Prime Minister Trudeau's visit to India, Jaspal Atwal was invited to dine with him at a formal event hosted by Canadian High Commissioner to India Nadir Patel. The invite was later rescinded.
Prime Minister Trudeau also received backlash over his wife Sophie Trudeau's photo with convicted man.
At that time, the World Sikh Organisation had controversially tweeted, "There are no current examples of 'Sikh extremism' in Canada."
Addressing media last month, Trudeau had said then, "Obviously we take this situation extremely seriously. As soon as we found out, we rescinded the invitation immediately."
Jaspal Atwal was convicted of the attempted murder of Punjab minister, Malkiat Singh Sidhu, on Vancouver Island in 1986.
