“You cannot allow them to threaten you”: Sonu Nigam on FIR, Pahalgam remark allegations

An FIR has been filed against musical maestro Sonu Nigam on Saturday, after his recent comments about the Pahalgam attack at a college concert in Bengaluru were said to have hurt the sentiments of Kannadigas.

During the concert, which took place from April 25-26 at the East Point College of Engineering and Technology in Bengaluru, he was reportedly asked to sing in Kannada—multiple times—by 3-5 young people in the crowd, prompting his response.

The complainant was identified as Dharmaraj Ananthayya, the president of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) city district unit. The organisation, which advocates for Kannada interests, claimed that the singer's remarks had been “objectionable and emotionally provocative”, offending the Kannada populace and fostering linguistic discord in the state. 

“By linking the request for a Kannada song to a terrorist act, Nigam has not only insulted Kannadigas but also likened their cultural pride and linguistic identity to violence and intolerance,” Ananthayya alleged.

The singer promptly took to Instagram on Saturday with a post titled 'Just Love', where he categorically refuted the allegations, explaining the intent behind his remarks.

“You cannot allow them to threaten you (as an audience), to make you sing,” he explained in the video, clarifying that he had felt threatened by those 3-5 people in the crowd, who had been threatening him to sing in Kannada.

“People who provoke others ought to be stopped at that very moment, or else they spread hate [and misinformation],” he added, urging his fans not to spread hate against Kannadigas in general, and emphasising that his comments at the concert were ultimately a call for communal unity, love and peace.

“You cannot have people sowing seeds of hate in a land of love, or else the harvest will return to bite us.”

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