Sonu Nigam speaks on Azaan controversy, says religion was also added to fuel it

Earlier this year, singer Sonu Nigam found himself in hot water when he tweeted out a video criticising the use of loudspeakers during the Azaan (Islamic call to prayer) a "forced religiousness". After facing backlash for his comments, Sonu quit Twitter in protest and even got his head shaved off by Aalim Hakim
when a fatwa was issued against him by a Muslim cleric.

And now once again Sonu Nigam chose to speak on the issue that created a huge uproar in the Muslim community.

"The issue of loudspeaker was in my office. But when I raised my voice against it, they fit one near my house also as a way to protest. It's the right of every citizen to raise their voice against anything wrong and not tolerate it," Sonu spoke about his infamous Azaan controversy at the Manthan Aaj Tak conclave.

Sonu Nigam added, "In the Azaan incident, religion was also added. In India, people don't try to understand the meaning of words and try to look into it deeply. In the same post, I had mentioned Temple, Gurudwara, but the only thing highlighted was Azaan."

On April 16, Sonu, in a series of tweets, had lashed out at "forced religiousness" in India after being woken up by the azaan from a nearby mosque.

He had tweeted: "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."

He added, "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."

Sonu, 43, also said the reactions from Bollywood on his comment that time were divided.

"I am not a religious person, but I believe in God. I see God in everybody. I believe in all the religions. Even some of my close friends stood against me during that time. But not all of them were against me. Today, a lot of people praise the step that I took during that time," he said.

But why did Sonu Nigam quit Twitter thereafter?

"From Mumbai I got everything. I have learned not be in bad company. At platform everyone just keep abusing people. They abuse Amitabh Bachchan and Modi and there is no censorship," Sonu Nigam said adding that he has also left WhatsApp after Twitter decided to suspend singer
Abhijeet Bhattacharya's account.

Back then, Sonu had even shaved off his head in defiance of a 'fatwa' issued by Syed Sha Atef Ali Al Quaderi of the West Bengal Minority Council, who offered to pay Rs 10 lakh as a reward to shave off the singer's hair and to garland him with old shoes.

Sonu Nigam also shared his views on the National Anthem row saying, "If I respect national anthem, then why will I play in cinema? According to me, national anthem should not be played in cinema. One should respect national anthem. If Pakistan national anthem is played, I will stand with
them. When national anthem is played at cinema halls people stand up without their wish, they should stand with respect. Why in cinema hall?"

(With IANS Inputs)