Singer Adnan Sami on Wednesday extended his support to his colleague Sonu Nigam who has been facing renewed calls for boycott since his 2017 tweets re-surfaced online this week and urged everyone to leave him alone.
“As far as Sonu is concerned, forget about his singing which is beautiful; he is a true brother who has always been by my side & loved me like my own. I know, for a fact, personally, that he respects all faiths,” said Sami on Twitter, along with adding the hashtag #WithYouSonuNigam.
On April 21, Nigam’s controversial tweets posted three years ago about morning prayers on loudspeakers disturbing his sleep in India had re-surfaced again with several Twitter users tagging the Dubai Police to take action against the singer.
While Nigam did not want to comment on the latest developments, he has categorically made it clear to this journalist that he isn’t against any religion and is only against forced display of religion. Religion is personal and there has to be grace, believes the singer.
Nigam has been in the UAE for the last few weeks since the national sterilisation programme began and is with his family here since his son studies here in the UAE.
He also found a friend in BJP supporter Priti Gandhi. She tweeted to her 426.4k followers that there was no need for Nigam to de-activate his Twitter account over the hate that he has received.
Filmmaker Vivkek Agnihotri also tweeted support and reminded others that Nigam’s music has healed many hearts.
Another Twitter user Farrago Abdullah pointed out in his tweet that Nigam was being hounded for speaking his mind and that he has not done anything wrong or harmed anyone.
Nigam’s tweets that were perceived as Islamophobic created a storm in the singer’s life. While talents like Javed Akhtar supported Nigam in the past, a large section felt that he was being intolerant to a certain faith.
