Sonu Nigam Loudspeaker Controversy

Sonu Nigam loudspeaker controversyI am late in writing on this Sonu Nigam loudspeaker controversy. I thought this controversy was completely unnecessary. There is already a judgment of Justice Sanghi of Delhi High Court, which banned loudspeakers from both the mosque and the temple in the same area on basically the same premises which Sony Nigam has been stating in his tweets. The judgment banned loudspeakers in both the temple and the mosque, so probably there was never any controversy.  

Anyways, first I am not sure whether personal problems should be raised on Twitter. The celebrities do pretty often use social media to raise their personal issues in the disguise of public interest. Though Sonu Nigam was pretty straightforward in his first tweet and never raised it as a public interest issue, it turned out to be so later. But, of course, for a celebrity like Sonu Nigam, for whom access to courts is not difficult, the best recourse should have been to move the court instead of Twitter. There are many judicial precedents which would have helped him get the desired relief.

Now coming to the response of twitterati. I am surprised the way twiteratti has reacted. There is hardly any difference between the liberals and the conservatives. The liberals at large have sided against Sonu Nigam, which have brought the conservatives to his side. This has ended up making him a conservative icon. But the fact remains this is no liberal v. conservative debate. A fatwa against Sonu Nigam for seeking banning of loudspeaker is abhorrent and should have been condemned by one and all. He didn’t insult the religious feeling of anybody by seeking a ban on loudspeakers as I have said the Delhi High Court has already made it a law in one particular case. It seems politicians, who actually collaborate with each other at the highest level, have once again succeeded in polarizing this debate, which benefits nobody else but the politicians. Twitter has indeed become another tool of political control over unprepared and innocent masses.

BTW, I have started using Twitter lately. Most of my followers are from Pakistan and Bangladesh — it seems Indians find me too anti-national; #AntiNationalHumanist is but what I am. In any case, I tweeted only in favour of Sonu Nigam and have got likes from Muslims from Pakistan. It seems Muslims are also offended by forceful waking up by Azaan loudspeakers; in India, they don’t speak up because of the polarization whereas, in a Muslim country like Pakistan, they understand nuisance as nuisance, not religion.

About the Author

Ankur Mutreja
Ankur Mutreja is an advocate-cum-writer, and his blogs are amongst his modes of expression. He has also authored number of books, which can be downloaded from the links on the top menu.

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