Mumbai: Singer Sonu Nigam has said that he meant no disrespect to the people of Karnataka or the Kannada language through his ‘Pahalgam’ remark during a concert at Bengaluru in April.
On Saturday, an FIR was registered against Nigam at the Avalahalli police station in Bengaluru by one Dharmaraj A of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV).
Nigam was performing at a college when a youth demanded a song in Kannada. The singer had then said: “Kannada, Kannada, Kannada. That is exactly why the incident happened in Pahalgam.”
He was referring to the terror strike in Pahalgam, Jammu and kashmir, on April 22 that left 26 persons, mostly tourists, dead and several others injured. The KRV was miffed by this reaction and so were several social media users.
“I never meant that the demand for a song in Kannada has anything to do with the terror attack. All that I meant to highlight is that we all need to shed this regionalism and stand together as Indians. The terrorists take advantage of the divisions among us on the basis of language and state,” Nigam said.
The singer added that only a group of 3-4 youngsters were involved in the incident. “It is not as if I do not sing Kannada songs. However, even as I was in the middle of another song, these youngsters started creating a racket and shouted Kannada, Kannada, Kannada. Even the other members of the audience tried to shut them up. That is when I reacted,” he added.
Even during the performance, Nigam had said: “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.”
