Singer Sonu Nigam reacts to the ban on loudspeakers in mosques, recalls how his 2017 comment on ‘Azaan’ created a wave!

New Delhi: Amid the ongoing controversy over the demand for a ban on loudspeakers in mosques, singer Sonu Nigam reacted to the controversy and recalled his 2017 statement on azaan, which then created a wave online.

over a text message, Padma Shri Sonu Nigam Exclusively told Zee News that ‘Filhaal main mountains mein hun…lekin jo awaaz maine uthai thi, uska echo ab auro ki taraf se aane dijijiye. (I am currently in the mountains…but let the echo of the voice raised by me resonate from others.)

Singer honored Padma Shri by President Ram Nath Kovind At a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday, March 28, 2022.

Sonu Nigam tweeted on Azaan in 2017 And for this attracted the religious anger of the people. Expressing displeasure over the noise of the loudspeaker of Azaan, he had termed it as a ‘forced religion’ in the country.

He deactivated his Twitter handle in 2017 citing lack of respect for freedom of expression. In a series of tweets, he mentioned why he thinks everyone is ‘angry’ on the micro-blogging site and ‘unilaterally’.

The singer later clarified, “My words have been taken out of context. Please forgive me if I have done anything wrong. I only intended to talk about a social topic and not a religious one.” The singer said that it was wrong to focus on one particular tweet, where he termed the telecast of sermons on loudspeaker as ‘gundagardi’ (hooliganism). People took one of my tweets where I mentioned ‘hooligandi’ and ignored other tweets where I also talked about temples and gurudwaras.”

He further added, “I am a secular person, a neutral person. You will hardly find people who are neutral. Hence, I am a minority here.”

For those unaware, on April 2nd, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray Urged Maharashtra government to remove loudspeakers from mosques. Addressing his supporters at a rally in Mumbai’s Shivaji Park, Raj Thackeray said, “Why are loudspeakers played at such a high volume in mosques? Speakers will be there.”

“I am not against prayer, or any particular religion. I am proud of my religion.”

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