Delhi Police clears Diljit Dosanjh's show after threat review

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police on Friday granted permission for singer Diljit Dosanjh's October 30 concert at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi, news agency ANI reported.The organisers reportedly held multiple meetings with police and presented detailed security plans.

BookMyShow issued a statement confirming that the concert will go ahead as scheduled.The statement read, "It is clarified that reports suggesting that the Diljit Dosanjh AURA India Tour concert in New Delhi on 30 October is being cancelled are inaccurate. Permission for the event had been temporarily withheld, not cancelled, and the two should not be confused. Given the festive season and the heightened caution it calls for, Delhi Police asked the organisers, BookMyShow Live, to put additional safety, traffic and crowd-management measures in place.

""BookMyShow Live had a cordial meeting with Delhi Police, presented a detailed plan and have assured Delhi Police of full compliance with all security/traffic requirements. On that basis, permission for the event has been reconsidered and issued. We with Delhi Police are committed to ensure a good experience to the attendees as well as local commuters," it read further.Delhi Police had earlier denied permission for the Aura India Tour show, citing specific threat-related inputs, security and law-and-order commitments during the festive season.

In a letter dated October 21, DCP (South) Anant Mittal had informed BookMyShow Live Private Limited director Anil Makhija that the request to organise the concert could not be approved.The letter cited “specific threat-related inputs” along with the security and law-and-order requirements arising from the ongoing festive season and other concerns.The concert is scheduled to kick off the India leg of Dosanjh’s Aura Tour, which is set to travel across seven cities.

The tour will include Indore, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Lucknow and Chandigarh after the Delhi show.The earlier denial had drawn criticism from AAP’s Delhi chief Saurabh Bharadwaj, who accused the government of targeting artists who had spoken against it.He said Dosanjh had raised his voice in support of protesting farmers and students, and claimed the move could make the singer a “superhero for the youth”.“It is India's misfortune that when an industrialist makes money or a star becomes a superstar, they start fearing the government,” Bharadwaj told ANI.He alleged that the denial sent a message to celebrities that their work could be shut down if they spoke against the government.

(With inputs from ANI)