“Do your prayers, but it shouldn’t disturb anyone”, says Javed Akhtar on Sonu Nigam’s tweet

One tweet and it snowballed into a huge controversy. It was just one tweet by Sonu Nigam that caused a furore and a debate that is still being discussed. On April 17, the singer was apparently woken up to the prayers of Azaan and tweeted, “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.”

This tweet was enough to start protests against him. After all, his opinions were clearly targeted at a particular religion. But, he later covered it up by saying that it’s not just in mosques, but also in temples and gurudwaras and it’s all about the loudspeakers, not the prayers. (Also Read: Javed Akhtar pens something magical for Karan Johar’s twins, and it’s worth reading)

But, the religious extremists weren’t in the mood to spare him and the Maulavis said that they would only forgive him and pay him an amount of Rs 10 lakh if he goes bald, which he did. Post all the hullabaloo, many celebs expressed their opinions over it. Some sided him, while some disagreed with him.

Now, veteran lyricist-writer Javed Akhtar was asked about the same at the Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Awards 2017. As he was awarded the award for “Best poet, scriptwriter and lyricist”, he opened up on the controversy. He said, “As far as I think, no matter if it’s a Masjid, Mandir, Church or Gurudwara, whatever is the place, do your prayers, but it shouldn’t disturb anyone else.”

Agreed!

Prajakta Ajgaonkar

Passionate about writing, and a Bollywood lover, she is all that is sweet and endearing! She desires to put her best foot forward in everything that she does and loves to help anyone who’s in need.