MUMBAI: One of India’s most loved playback singers, Sonu Nigam, became the most hated on 17 April 2017. A series of tweets landed the singer in a pool of controversy that reached its climax today, 19 April 2017, with Nigam shaving off his hair.
It all began at 5:25 am on Monday when the singer felt the need to express a social issue on his social media page. The series of tweets read like this –
God bless everyone. I'm not a Muslim and I have to be woken up by the Azaan in the morning. When will this forced religiousness end in India
— Sonu Nigam (@sonunigam) April 16, 2017
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And by the way Mohammed did not have electricity when he made Islam.. Why do I have to have this cacophony after Edison?
— Sonu Nigam (@sonunigam) April 17, 2017
I don't believe in any temple or gurudwara using electricity To wake up people who don't follow the religion . Why then..? Honest? True?
— Sonu Nigam (@sonunigam) April 17, 2017
Gundagardi hai bus…
— Sonu Nigam (@sonunigam) April 17, 2017
Unfortunately, one of these tweets got highlighted and it lead to a twitter troll and a West Bengal maulvi issuing fatwa of rupees 10 lakh to shave off Nigam’s hair, for hurting the religious sentiments of the Muslim community. Well, in a reply to this the singer went on to shave his hair with the help of his Muslim friend, Alim.
Now, shaving off one’s hair would lead to a lot of questions thus to answer them Nigam called for a press conference at his residence where he did put across his views. Talking about his decision to shave, he stated, “It’s not a challenge. It’s a request. What are you doing in this country? I am a believer but I don’t think my religion is the best but yours isn’t. I don’t believe in that. You have to fight fanaticism, you can’t be quite.”
The artiste further pointed out that he did not think that his tweet would become a communal issue. In fact, he went on to give example of the roles of certain men from the same community in his life. “I have looked at Mohammed Rafi Saab as my father, all my life. My guru was Ustad Ghulam Mustafa Khan and some of my closest friends have been Muslim. If someone points that person as anti-Muslim then it’s not my problem. It’s theirs,” highlighted Nigam.
He further added, “I am completely against the temples and gurdwaras that play prayer on loud speakers. Everyone has the right to opinion. I too have a right to opinion. Loudspeaker is not a religious necessity.”
Explaining the reason for having pointed out the issues of loudspeakers at religious places Nigam said, “I pointed out the issue because you will be in the same country. Your kids have to grow here. Can you not give them a better life? Let’s not present it all in a wrong way.”
Addressing Prophet Mohammad as ‘Mohammad’ too brought a hurricane in the Twitter world. Commenting on the same the singer said, “People are asking why I said Mohammad and not Mohammad Sahab in my tweets. Well, that it is the problem of explaining in English language. In Hindi I will say Krishnaji or Shivji but while speaking in English it becomes Krishna or Shiva. It was the same while mentioning Mohammad. My intent was not to slam the prophet in any way.”
Nigam also went to ask for forgiveness to the ones who felt he had made a mistake to only add: “Whatever I have said is not to disrespect anyone. I am talking on a social topic not a religious.”
To the question raised on his loudspeaker laden performances the artiste stated, “Yes, I sing but my performances are over by 10 pm as per government rules. It is all about timing and when I sing at religious events, I ensure rules are followed.”
The singer further pointed that one of the major reason of the backlash that he faced was because: “They (the backlashers) feel they have all the right to their opinion, celebs don’t.”
All said and done, the ‘bald look’ will definitely be added to Nigam’s list of ‘cool’ looks. And we hope it helps settle the dust.
