Well-known Indian playback singer Sonu Nigam shaved his head on Wednesday.
This was in response to a call given by a Kolkata-based cleric, who announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh to anybody who shaved Sonu Nigam’s head and garland him with old shoes.
Sonu Nigam has earlier complained on Twitter about being woken up by loud azaans (Muslim call for prayers).
“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,” Nigam had tweeted.
Later, Syed Sha Atef Ali Al Quaderi, the vice-president of West Bengal United Minority Council, in a series of tweets said that he will get Sonu’s head shaved.
Sonu Nigam Source: Sonu Nigam Twitter
Sonu Nigam held a press conference and said that he raised a social topic and not a religious one.
He apologised “if someone thought otherwise”.
“I am a secular person. It was not about azaan, it was about the loud sound. Playing loud sound on a speaker is gundagardi for me,” Nigam told reporters.
“What is happening to the country? Anyone can lynch anyone or anyone can issue a fatwa. I’m not talking about any single religion,” he added.
Sonu Nigam said that in his other tweets he also wrote about Hindu temples and Sikh gurudwara which no one seemed to notice.
His tweets about azaan triggered a storm on social media.
He argued for an end to the use of loudspeakers or public address systems.
Sonu nigam, apart from Bollywood and Indipop, has also been a popular bhajan singer at jagratas (Hindu ritual consisting of all-night vigil with songs and dance in praise of a deity).
WATCH VIDEO: Sonu Nigam Live at the Chattarpur Temple
After being trolled, Nigam tweeted more clarification saying that he isn’t only against mosques’ use of loudspeakers but that by temples and gurudwaras as well.
WATCH VIDEO:
