In 2017, singer Sonu Nigam courted controversy when he posted a 2-minute video, presumably from his house, in which azaan can be heard, and called the forced religiousness in India as ‘gundagardi’.
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.”
The video was allegedly a response to all those who questioned if he could even hear the sounds of the Muslim call to prayer from his home, but after his controversial opinion he received some serious backlash on the micro blogging site.
Fast forward to 2020, Sonu, who is currently stuck in Dubai due to the coronavirus lockdown is facing flak once again after many dug up the old tweet and unleashed their dissent on social media.
Back then, Sonu had clarified his stance and said his tweets were ‘misconstrued’. While addressing a press conference, the singer also said he never thought that such a small thing would turn into a big controversy.
“I have always considered Mohd. Rafi as my father; my Guru is a Muslim; my trainers, close friends are also Muslims.. even then if people taint me as anti-Muslim, anti-Islamic, then it’s not my problem but an issue with nation’s ideology,” Sonu said.
“Everyone has a right to their opinion and it should not be misconstrued. So, be it a temple, church, gurudwara or masjid, loudspeakers are not a necessity there.”
“I’m neither right wing nor left wing; I am in the centre. I have expressed my views on a social topic, not a religious one,” he added.
Responding to the reports of a fatwa issued against him, Sonu later got his head shaved.
