After a shooter killed at least eight people and injured dozens at a high school in the small Canadian mountain town of Tumbler Ridge on Tuesday, a positivity author named Gurdeep Pandher posted a video of himself dancing in the snow to “carry hope across borders”. However, many social media users criticised him, calling his act “insensitive” and “self-promotion”.

Most of those killed in the shooting were children. Five students aged between 12 and 13 lost their lives, along with the suspect’s 11-year-old stepbrother. Police said the suspect is an 18-year-old woman who left the school around four years ago. She was born biologically male and transitioned about six years ago, according to a report by CNN.

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Sharing the video on X (formerly Twitter), where he is seen performing bhangra (a Punjabi folk-dance) in the snow, he wrote, “A wave of sorrow ripples through Canada, both in news and on dinner tables. Hearts are heavy, emotions raw and shared openly. Yet in our darkest hours, joy emerges as both balm and mental medicine – a light that heals what words cannot. In that spirit, I offer this video: a small burst of brightness to carry hope across borders and mend what breaks within us”.

Adding to it Pandher wrote, “This winter, I brought to life something that has lived in my imagination for years – the first annual print edition of The Gurdeep Magazine”.

Continuing his post Pandher added that, “My post isn’t about one happening, as some folks thought. It’s about universal grief from many sources, seen and unseen, told and untold”.

Social media backlash intensifies

Soon after the video was posted, social media users reacted strongly. Many said that sharing a dance video at a time when families were mourning felt inappropriate. Some accused him of trying to gain attention during a tragedy, while others questioned the timing of promoting his magazine alongside the message of hope.

Collin Rugg, a prominent conservative media influencer shared Pandher’s video on his official X account and calls him a “Total freak”.

“Gurdeep Pandher, a “positivity” author, used the opportunity to dance and promote his magazine,” Rugg said.

“This is deeply insensitive. In Indian, Punjabi, and Sikh traditions, periods of mourning are treated with seriousness and restraint. Celebratory music, dancing, and festivities are traditionally avoided when a family or community is grieving,” an X user wrote.

“This is a time for empathy and reflection, not self-promotion. Positivity is important, but timing and sensitivity matter even more. Respect for the victims and their families should always come first,” another said.

One more comment surfaced, where a user said, “Canada is completely owned by these people”.

“I’m confused, Is he mourning or celebrating those shocking killings?,” another user wrote.