Bengaluru: An FIR has been registered against singer Sonu Nigam at the Avalahalli police station in Bengaluru, Karnataka, for an alleged comment in which he equates the demand for a Kannada song to the terror strike in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir that left 26 persons, mostly tourists, dead.
The FIR was registered by Dharmaraj A, Bengaluru district president of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV).
The incident allegedly occurred during Nigam’s performance at the East Point College in Bengaluru on April 25/26. A student apparently asked him for a Kannada song. In response to this, the singer allegedly said: “Kannada, Kannada, Kannada. This is exactly why the incident happened in Pahalgam.”
What a demand for a Kannada song has to do with terrorists massacring tourists is not known, but Nigam apparently stopped singing after the student made the request.
After the Pahalgam remark, Nigam went on to say: “Please see who is standing before you. I love you guys. In my career, I have sung in multiple languages, but the best songs that I have ever sung is in the Kannada language. Whenever I come to your city, I come with lots of love. We do a lot of shows in a lot of places, but whenever we have shows in Karnataka, we come with a lot of respect for you. You have treated me like your family, but I didn’t like it when the boy there, who is not even as old as my career, is rudely threatening me to sing in Kannada (sic),” he said.
Nigam was heavily trolled on social media for this statement. One user posted on X: “A fan asked Sonu Nigam to sing in Kannada at a Bengaluru concert. He got offended and said “it is because of such behaviour that incidents like Pahalgam happen”. This is exactly the kind of brain rot that occurs when Hindi hegemony gets passed off as nationalism in the society.”
Another wrote: “Kannadigaru have always shown grace by welcoming Hindi singers like Lata, Kishore, Shaan, Sonu Nigam and others. But the moment we demand our own language, it’s called ‘terrorism’? This is the true face of the Hindi mindset: arrogant, entitled and allergic to any non-Hindi identity (sic).”
“Shri Sonu Nigam’s statements have caused severe distress to the Kannadiga community. By equating a simple cultural request to sing a Kannada song with a terrorist act, Shri Nigam has portrayed Kannadigas as intolerant or violent, which is contrary to their peace-loving and harmonious nature. His statement risks sparking linguistic unrest in Karnataka, a state known for its diversity. Coming from a public figure like Shri Sonu Nigam, who has a vast following, such statements create a negative perception of Kannadigas and foster division among communities, endangering communal harmony,” Dharmaraj has stated in his complaint.
