Sonu Nigam’s Post Against Azaan Raises Enough Dust

• The singer vents ire against the use of loudspeakers for azaan, bringing forth a flood of criticism, but also some voices in support
• Mistaken identity: Sonu Sood trolled for Sonu Nigam

Actor-producer Sonu Sood became the innocent target of Twitter trolls after popular playback singer Sonu Nigam posted a slew of irritable tweets about Azaan early today (April 17), after he was woken up from sleep due to the prayer call.
Confused by all the hate directed towards him, Sonu Sood took to Twitter and wrote, “I am still wondering WHO said WHAT and to WHOM and WHO’s asking me to find out WHAT happened WHERE.”
Soon after, people started making fun of the confusion of identities. Users brought the reference of the similar situation of mistaken identity between e-commerce portal Snapdeal and multimedia company Snapchat that happened barely 48 hours ago.
Sonu Sood’s friend choreographer-director Farah Khan also had a funny take on the whole situation, so did comedial Tamnay Bhatt of AIB.
“HOW did you get involved n WHY??” wrote the ‘Om Shanti Om’ director, while Tanmay tweeted, “Can’t wait for us to outrage at Sonu Sood for his religious comments.”
Here are some more hilarious reactions:
ð Sonu Nigam tweets against Mosques for spoiling his sleep, Shahi Imam issued fatwa against Sonu Sood instead of Sonu Nigam.
ð @SonuSood You are snapdeal in snapchat world
ð @SonuSood You can be the next brand ambassador of @snapdeal
ð @SonuSood You’re just a part of fan-fiction turned non-fiction.
ð Uninstalling @SonuSood because I’m offended by what the @snapdeal CEO said about Spain.
Social media has erupted in India following singer Sonu Nigam’s tweets on azaan (call for prayer) on loudspeakers. While most reactions slammed Sonu, a few voices were in his favour.
Riled at being woken up by the sound of azaan — the first call comes before daybreak from the neighbourhood mosque — Sonu posted furious tweets in strong language. In one post, he wrote: “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.” He continued posting and drew flak for being “insensitive” and “derogatory”.
His next tweet said: “And by the way Mohammed did not have electricity when he made Islam. Why do I have to have this cacophony after Edison?” He went so far as to call the use of loudspeakers for azaan “gundagardi”.
There were mixed reactions from Bollywood. Veteran actor Anupam Kher expressed his surprise. Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt told us in a text message: “This is an ‘engineered’ affair. I refuse to be part of this silly conflict.” Bhatt said that this issue was “old as the hills”.
Singer Shaan backed Sonu, saying, “I support what he has tweeted, not because he’s a friend but because he’s right. The law of the land is equal [for] all. Be it azaan or Hanuman Chalisa jap or any other religious practice, one must see that noise pollution must be curtailed.”
Fellow musician Baba Sehgal said, “I think that’s [Sonu’s] perspective, but definitely, it’s not a very positive tweet.”
A “live and let live” policy was favoured by singer Sona Mohapatra, who said, “Any religion or anybody seeking spiritual salvation doesn’t need a plea — be it Muslims singing the azaan or Hindus with their bhajans.”