New Delhi, April: Singer Sonu Nigam in a series of tweets has expressed his outrage on how following a religion in India is not by choice but by force. He wrote, “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.” Explaining his stand further, Sonu Nigam went on to compare this with ‘Gundagardi’, “And by the way, Mohammed did not have electricity when he made Islam. Why do I have to have this cacophony after Edison? 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? Gundagardi hai bus.”
His tweets have already started to receive flak from the Twitterati. A few of his followers on Twitter have written, “Sonu Nigam Slams Religion Of Peace Guys For Waking Him Up Early Morning By Azaan. Burnol Moment For #Libtards & #Radicals. SonuNigam,” and “Sonu Nigam is a bigot because he has the legit concern. Presenting you the Pseudo-liberal of India.”
However, some are also lending support to the singer. Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri wrote, “I am willing to sponsor a campaign against illegal blaring of Azaan and other prayers on loudspeakers. Suggest a creative hashtag.” He went on to tag Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, to look into the matter. Vivek wrote, “Dear @DevFadnavis pl note and help us force police to act against illegal blaring of Azaan and other such activities.”
Hpwever, Twitter mostly attacked Sonu for his stance. One wrote, “Learn to accept & respect our religious differences. Living in a multi-religious society demands some tolerance.” Another user wrote, “Azaan should be stopped in India, where millions of Muslims live, because desh ka laadla Sonu Nigam can’t sleep. Where is the tolerance?”
On the work front, Sonu Nigam recently appeared as a judge on Indian Idol season 9. He also collaborated with Sachin Tendulkar for a single, Cricket Wali Beat, which marked the debut of the ace cricketer in the field of singing.
