Unfazed by a raging controversy over his ‘aazan’ remarks, a defiant singer Sonu Nigam shaved off his head on Wednesday in protest against a fatwa issued against him by a Muslim cleric from West Bengal who had offered Rs 10 lakh to anyone who shaved the singer’s hair and paraded him around the country with a garland of old shoes around his neck.
Castigating Nigam for his ‘azaan’ remarks and dubbing the singer as an anti-national, vice president of West Bengal Minority United Council Syed Shah Atef Ali Al Quaderi had said in Kolkata on Tuesday “If anyone can shave his hair, put a garland of old torn shoes around his neck and tour him around the country, I personally announce an award of Rs 10 lakh for that person.”
Calling Muslim cleric Quaderi’s bluff, Nigam took to twitter in the morning and said: “Today at 2pm Aalim will come to my place, and shave my head. Keep your Rs 10 lakh ready Maulavi.”
Following up on his tweet, Sonu Nigam called celebrity hair stylist Aalim Hakim and decided to shave his head.
Nigam elaborated later in the day: “I have requested Aalim (Hakim) to come. He will shave my head, but it isn’t any agitation or challenge. The one who is cutting hair is a Muslim and I am a Hindu. There is no animosity.”
Be-spectacled Nigam, who appeared before journalists with a clean-shaven pate, said at a hurriedly convened news conference “This is not an agitation, not a challenge that I am handing it to someone. I am shaving off my head just to show that the person cutting my hair is a Muslim. It’s all about interpreting things the right way.”