Four-five boys in audience were threatening me to sing in Kannada: Sonu Nigam after FIR
New Delhi, May 4 (PTI): Singer Sonu Nigam, who is currently facing an FIR for allegedly offending the sentiments of Kannadigas during a recent concert in Bengaluru, has stated that he was "threatened" by a small group of boys to sing in Kannada at the event.
He also urged people "not to generalise" or hold the entire community responsible for the actions of a few.
An FIR was registered at the Avalahalli Police Station in Bengaluru on Saturday against the popular playback singer for reportedly retorting, "Kannada. Kannada. This is the reason behind the incident in Pahalgam," in response to an audience member's request to sing in Kannada.
In his complaint, Dharamaraj Ananthayya, the president of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV), said Nigam had not only insulted Kannadigas but also likened their cultural pride and linguistic identity to violence and intolerance by linking the request for a Kannada song to a terrorist act.
Nigam, 51, shared his side of the story in a video on Instagram posted on Saturday.
"There were four-five goon-type people who were shouting 'Kannada-Kannada' angrily. There were girls who were requesting them not to shout like that, asking them not to disturb the scene. It's important to tell those four-five people that terrorists in Pahalgam didn't ask the language of the people...
"You have to not allow them to threaten you as an audience to make you sing. But those provoke others, it's important to stop them right away. If someone is sowing the seeds of hatred in the land of love, we must stop them. Kannadigas are beautiful people, so please do not generalise them. There were just four-five boys who were looking at me angrily after I finished my first song. They were not demanding, they were threatening. You can ask people who were there," he said.
The incident occurred during a live concert on April 25 at a college in Bengaluru. Nigam paused his performance when someone from the audience loudly demanded that he sing in Kannada. Frustrated by the repeated shouts of "Kannada, Kannada," the singer responded sharply from the stage.
In a video that went viral on social media, Nigam is also heard saying that some of the best songs of his career are in Kannada and that Karnataka has always treated him like family, but he was irked by how the demand was made.
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11 more bodies retrieved from Arunachal accident site
Itanagar (PTI): Eleven more bodies were retrieved on Saturday from the deep gorge in Arunachal Pradesh's Anjaw district, where a mini-truck on which 22 labourers from Assam were travelling fell, an official said.
With this, 17 bodies have been recovered from the accident site, Anjaw's deputy commissioner Milo Kojin said.
He said three more bodies will be brought out on Sunday.
The operation, being conducted by a joint team of the NDRF and Army, resumed at 6 am.
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"The retrieval process was extremely difficult because of the treacherous terrain, and the gorge is very deep," Kojin said.
The operation was suspended around 4 pm due to low visibility and will be resumed on Sunday morning, he said.
"One person is still missing, and a search operation will be carried out tomorrow," he added.
The accident happened on the evening of December 8, around 40 km from Hayuliang towards Chaglagam in the district. On the evening of December 10, one survivor managed to climb out of the gorge and reach a nearby Border Roads Task Force (BRTF) labour camp, following which the authorities were alerted.
Six bodies were recovered from the gorge on Friday and handed over to their families on Saturday.
