Singer Sonu Nigam has landed himself into a legal soup after his comments at a concert in Bengaluru left Kannadigas fuming. A pro-Kannada outfit has now filed a police complaint against the singer for inciting hate and hurting the sentiments of their community.
It all began after Sonu performed at East Point College of Engineering and Technology, Virgonagar, Bengaluru, on April 25, and during his concert, he refused to sing a song in Kannada despite multiple requests by a fan. The singer stated that the young boy was "rudely threatening" him to sing in Kannada, and added, "Yahi kaaran hai, Pahalgam mein jo hua hai na. Yahi kaaran hai jo kar rahe ho, jo kiya tha na abhi. Dekho toh kaun saamne khada hai."
This did not sit well with the Kannada-speaking population, who slammed the singer for likening a simple request by a fan to a terrorist attack. And on Friday, the Bengaluru city district unit of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV), a pro-Kannada organisation, lodged a police complaint against Sonu.
They claimed that the singer "deeply hurt the sentiments of the Kannadiga community", "incited hatred among various linguistic communities in Karnataka", and that his statements might provoke violence in the state.
Not just Kannadigas, but netizens across India criticised Sonu for his statement, which they felt was "uncalled for". "How is Pahalgam incident related to asking kannada song in Bengaluru concert ?? Why is sonu nigam Linking 2 unrelated things (sic)," a user wrote.
"If asking for a Kannada song at a Bengaluru concert is considered anti-national, then I have no problem being labeled as one (sic)," another X user tweeted.
Sonu, who is quite vocal on social media, is yet to react to the controversy.
