‘Four-five boys in audience were threatening me to sing in Kannada’: Sonu Nigam | Bollywood News
Singer Sonu Nigam, who is currently facing an FIR for allegedly offending the sentiments of Kannadigas during a recent concert in Bengaluru, has stated that he was “threatened” a small group of boys to sing in Kannada at the event. He also urged people “not to generalise” or hold the entire community responsible for the actions of a few.
An FIR was regered at the Avalahalli Police Station in Bengaluru on Saturday against the popular playback singer for reportedly retorting, “Kannada. Kannada. This is the reason behind the incident in Pahalgam,” in response to an audience member’s request to sing in Kannada.
In his complaint, Dharamaraj Ananthayya, the president of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV), said Sonu Nigam had not only insulted Kannadigas but also likened their cultural pride and linguic identity to violence and intolerance linking the request for a Kannada song to a terror act.
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Nigam, 51, shared his side of the story in an Instagram video posted on Saturday.
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“There were four-five goon-type people who were shouting ‘Kannada-Kannada’ angrily. There were girls who were requesting them not to shout like that, asking them not to durb the scene. It’s important to tell those four-five people that terrors in Pahalgam didn’t ask the language of the people… You have to not allow them to threaten you as an audience to make you sing. But those provoke others, it’s important to stop them right away. If someone is sowing the seeds of hatred in the land of love, we must stop them. Kannadigas are beautiful people, so please do not generalise them. There were just four-five boys who were looking at me angrily after I finished my first song. They were not demanding, they were threatening. You can ask people who were there,” he said.
The incident occurred during a live concert on April 25 at a college in Bengaluru. Sonu Nigam paused his performance when someone from the audience loudly demanded that he sing in Kannada. Frustrated the repeated shouts of “Kannada, Kannada,” the singer responded sharply from the stage. In a video that went viral on social media, Nigam is also heard saying that some of the best songs of his career are in Kannada and that Karnataka has always treated him like family, but he was irked how the demand was made.
