Famous singer Sonu Nigam’s latest move during a concert in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, not only surprised fans but also revived the memory of an eight-year-old controversy.

The 52-year-old singer hurt the sentiments of a vast majority with his tweets, which sparked a huge uproar and calls for a boycott.

In 2017, the Sandese Aate Hai singer had turned people against himself after multiple tweets about his annoyance at being woken up by Azaan (the Islamic call to prayer), he termed the use of loudspeakers as “forced religiousness” and “gundagardi.”

Although some Muslims agreed with the context of his remarks, his choice of words set Twitter on fire with a heated debate, mostly slamming the singer for bigotry and hurting feelings.

Now, after almost 8 years, the Apne vocalist might have moved past the criticism, but it seems people still remember his arrogant statements. 

 Recently, when his concert was announced in Kashmir (a predominantly Muslim region), local and social media users called for a boycott over his past comments deemed Islamophobic.

Consequently, the singer seemed to pay a hefty price for the old remarks, because his concert witnessed a very low turnout.

Interestingly, at the same time, a video from the event is circulating on social media, showing Sonu halting his concert midway to honour azaan.

He paused the performance and said, “Please give me two minutes; the azaan is about to begin here.” His words were met with cheers and applause from the audience as a token of appreciation for respecting the custom. Once the azaan concluded, Sonu resumed his singing and continued to entertain the attendees.

While many appreciate his gesture, a section of netizens called it a tactic of damage control over monetary loss caused by boycott calls.