'Entitled to take offence': Sonu Nigam pens open letter after FIR for 'Pahalgam' remark in Bengaluru concert, asks 'who is at fault?'

Sonu Nigam has landed himself into trouble as an FIR was filed against the National Award-winning singer in Bengaluru after his provocative statements during his concert at the East Point College in the Karnataka capital city on April 25. When an audience member asked Sonu to sing a Kannada song, he made an objectionable statement, saying, "Kannada, Kannada, Kannada, this is exactly why the incident happened in Pahalgam", as he referenced the recent terrorist attack that occurred in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, where 26 tourists were killed. The complaint alleges that the singer linked a simple request to sing a Kannada song to a terrorist act, thereby insulting the Kannadiga community and equating their cultural pride and linguistic identity with violence and intolerance. Also, there have been calls to ban Sonu from the Kannada film industry after his controversial remarks.

On Monday, May 5, Sonu Nigam has now written an open letter on his Instagram, issuing clarification on the whole matter. He wrote, "Namaskara, I have given unprecedented love to the language, the culture, the music, the musicians, the state and the people not just when I am in Karnataka but anywhere else in the world. Infact I have revered my Kannada songs way more than my songs in other languages including Hindi. There are 100s of videos circulating on social media as a testimony. I have more than hour of Kannada songs that I prepare for every concert when in Karnataka."

But, the singer asserted that he is in no mood to be humiliated by anyone, especially by someone as young as his son. "However, I am not a young lad to take humiliation from anyone. I am 51 years old, in the second half of my life and am entitled to take offence for someone as young as my son threatening me directly in front of thousands in the name of language that too Kannada which is my second language when it comes to my work. That too right after my first song of the concert! He provoked a few more", the singer added.

"Their own people were embarrassed and were asking them to shut up. I told them very politely and lovingly the show has just started, it's my first song and that I will not let them down, but they have to let me continue with the concert the way I have planned. Every artiste has a song list prepared so the musicians and technicians are in sync. But they were hell bent on creating ruckus and threatening me wildly. Tell me who is at fault?", Sonu shared how he tried to calm down a few aggressive audience members.

"Being a patriot that I am, I loathe anyone trying to create hate in the name of language, caste or religion especially after what transpired in Pahalgam. I had to school them, and I did, and thousands of students and teachers cheered me for it. The matter got over and I sang Kannada for more than an hour. It's all there on social media. I leave it upto the sensible people of Karnataka to decide who is at fault here. I will accept your verdict gracefully. I fully respect and trust the law agencies and Police of Karnataka and will comply with whatever is expected from me. I have received divine love from Karnataka and will cherish it always with no malice whatsoever irrespective of your verdict. Thank you, Sonu Nigam", he signed off.

 

 

 

 

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Sonu Nigam has been one of the most successful singers in the last three decades in the Indian film industry, with voicing songs in Hindi, Kannada, Bengali, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Odia, English, Assamese, Malayalam, Gujarati, Bhojpuri, Nepali, Tulu, Maithili, Manipuri, and Punjabi. Overall, the singer has recorded over 6,000 songs in more than 32 languages throughout his career.

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