‘No non-veg, no alcohol’: Diljit Dosanjh’s Indore concert meets Bajrang Dal demands

A day after Bajrang Dal voiced protest against the scheduled sale of meat and liquor at Diljit Dosanjh’s Indore concert, the singer performed in the city on Sunday.

A part of his ongoing Dil-Luminati Tour, the Indore gig didn’t served any alcohol or meat at the venue. An attendee informed us that there was “no non-veg, no alcohol” at Diljit’s Indore concert.

Bajrang Dal’s protest

Bajrang Dal on Saturday carried out protests in Indore against the Diljit Dosanjh’s concert in the city. Yash Bachani, a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) member, said that the Bajrang Dal could come out on the streets to protest against the concert and oppose serving meat and liquor.

“Bajrang Dal got information about a concert happening in the city where there would be open liquor, and meat would be served. We have come here to inspect the same and to ensure whether there are arrangements being made for women’s safety by the police administration. We are also alert about any Love Jihad incident happening here. We oppose the open liquor and serving of meat to protect the culture in the city. Bajrang Dal can come out on the streets to protest against the concert tomorrow. We will let you know about our decision,” Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) member Yash Bachani told reporters.

Meanwhile, the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) of Zone 2 said that Indore police consider the matter related to the law and order situation seriously. “Indore police consider the matter of law and order situation, women’s security and drug abuse seriously. We have not permitted serving alcohol and its consumption in the open here. We are taking everything into cognizance…” Amrendra Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Zone 2 told reporters.

No alcohol in Pune concert

Earlier, the state excise department cancelled the permit for serving liquor at Punjabi singer and actor Diljit Dosanjh’s musical concert in the Kothrud area of Pune last month. The decision came after strong protests from the youth wing of the NCP party and senior BJP leader Chandrakant Patil, along with some local residents and organisations, against serving liquor at the event.

This followed the controversial Hyderabad concert, in which the Telangana government banned Diljit from singing songs with lyrics on alcohol. Diljit bypassed that hurdle creatively, replacing alcohol terms with ‘softer’ substitutes like Coca Cola. He also addressed this controversy at the concert and claimed that several of his hit songs don’t have mentions of alcohol at all.

“I am not defending my songs or myself. Main sirf itna chahta hoon ke agar aap censorship lagana chahte ho gaano pe toh woh censorship Bhartiya cinema pe bhi hona chahiye. Right? Bhartiya cinema mein toh jitni badi gun utna bada hero. Kausa bada actor hai jisen sharab ka gaana ya scene nahi kiya? Hai koi? Yaad araha hai? Mere ko toh koi yaad nahi araha. Toh agar aapne censorship lagana hai toh please sab pe lagao (I just want that if you want to censor songs, then the censorship should be applied to Indian cinema too. In Indian films, the bigger the gun, the bigger the hero. Which big actor has not done a song on alcohol or similar scene? Is thre anyone? I can’t remember. So if you want to apply censorship, then do it on everyone),” Diljit added.

The ‘Dil-Luminati Tour’ continues in other cities, including Chandigarh on December 14, and the finale in Guwahati on December 29.