‘Truly multifaceted’: PM Narendra Modi heaps praise on Diljit Dosanjh, later says ‘a fantastic start to 2025’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with singer and actor Diljit Dosanjh on New Year. Sharing pictures of the meeting the PM wrote, “A great interaction with Diljit Dosanjh! He’s truly multifaceted, blending talent and tradition. We connected over music, culture and more…’ 

The singer also reciprocated his experience on meeting the Prime Minister with a post on X (formally twitter) saying, “A fantastic start to 2025. A very memorable meeting with PM @narendramodiJi. We talked about a lot of things including music of course!” 

The meeting comes amid recent controversy over a social media post by the singer that sparked a ‘Punjab vs Panjab’ debate. In a recent post on X, the singer shared a video of him arriving at Chandigarh airport accompanied by the word ‘Panjab.  

Social media users alleged that he deliberately omitted the Indian flag emoji in his post. Responding to the accusations, Diljit dismissed the allegations which he termed “conspiracy theories”. 

“If the tricolour is missed once while mentioning Punjab in a tweet, it’s called a conspiracy. Even in a tweet about Bengaluru, it was missed once. If Punjab is written as Panjab, it’s called a conspiracy. Whether you write it as Panjab or Punjab…it will always remain Punjab (he wrote in Punjabi),” his post read. 

Referring to its etymology, Diljit said that the name originates from Persian and translates to “Land of the Five Rivers” (panj meaning five and ab meaning water). He said that the spelling differences in English, a colonial language, do not change the identity of Punjab. 

Earlier, the singer got entangled in another controversy over giving a gift to his fan on stage during an event in UK. After the fan told him that she is from Pakistan, the singer says that he doesn’t believe borders divide people. For him, borders between countries are just what politicians want, not the people of either country. 

Meanwhile, Dosanjh’s New Year’s Eve concert in Ludhiana was overshadowed by a legal controversy following a formal complaint by Punditrao Dharenavar, an assistant professor from Chandigarh. The complaint prompted the Punjab Women’s and Child Department to intervene, with a formal notice issued to Ludhiana’s District Commissioner to prevent Dosanjh from performing certain songs. 

The singer had previously faced similar scrutiny in other cities, including Hyderabad and Indore, for performing alcohol and violence-promoting songs. Additionally, during the Indore concert, Dosanjh addressed concerns about the black market sale of tickets for his shows.