Sonu Nigam’s comments on use of loudspeakers in religious places stirs up a storm

News Hour:

It was a manic Monday for people on social media, as they woke up to a series of rants by Sonu Nigam. The singer expressed his thoughts on Twitter on the azaan (call for prayer) given by a mosque near his home, calling it “forced religiousness”. He also questioned the use of loudspeakers in religious places like temples and gurudwaras.

His tweets read:

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?

— Sonu Nigam (@sonunigam) April 17, 2017

“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?

“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 singer was trolled online for his azaan remark. While some of his fans supported him on the ban on loudspeakers for religious purposes, there was one user who reminded Nigam of how he used to practise jagratas all night when he started his successful singing career.

From his tweets, it seems Sonu was only trying to express his angst against the use of loudspeakers for religious practices and not pinpoint any one particular religion. We tried contacting the singer but he remained unavailable for comment.

AGAINST

The tweet read:
G.MISHRA @Satyameva_J
‘Dear Sonu Nigam u forget u started ur career doing jagrata all night. Where was gundagardi thn. If azaan shd stop thn jagrata shd also stop.’
‘Valid point Sonu Nigam. Let’s unite and stop both azaan and jagrata. Bcz both create noise pollution.’

Sheru. @iamzaalima:
‘Azaan should be stopped in India, where millions of Muslims live, because desh ka laadla Sonu Nigam can’t sleep. Where is the tolerance? FO.’