Indian Artist slammed online for saying Muslim Adhan is ‘forced religiousness’

New Delhi, 19 Rajab 1438/ 17 April 2017 (MINA) – Indian singer Sonu Nigam is being slammed on Twitter over his complaint that the Muslim call to prayer is “forced religiousness,” Arab News reported.

On Monday morning, Nigam tweeted “God bless everyone. I’m not a Muslim and I have to be woken up by the [Adhan] in the morning. When will this forced religiousness end in India.”

In a separate tweet, he added that the call to prayer was “gundagardi,” which loosely translates to thuggish behavior or hooliganism.

The 43-year-old singer is being lambasted on social media, especially as his tweet comes at a time of rising tensions between Hindus and Muslims in the country following the rise of the far-right Bharatiya Janata Party to power.

“God bless Sonu Nigam. I’m not Sonu Nigam yet I wake every morning to a world where Sonu Nigam exists. when will Sonu Nigam stop Sonu Nigam,” one user posted.

“If only there was a way to rate Sonu Nigam 1 star on Google play store and then uninstall him, we could show him who’s boss,” another said.

One user even referenced the debate on whether beef should be consumed in the country due to the importance of cows in Hinduism.
“God bless everyone. I’m not a Hindu but I’m not allowed to eat beef. When will this forced religiousness end in India?”

Another user tweeted: “When will the state-sanctioned religious cleansing of Muslims by Hindu extremists in India end? Or the atrocities in Kashmir? Shame on you.”

The majority Hindu nation is home to a sizeable homegrown Muslim community which is the largest of the country’s religious minorities and accounts for roughly 14 percent of the population.

According to the Pew Research Center, India is set to be home to the world’s largest Muslim population by 2050.(T/RE1/P2)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)