Not very long back, Sonu Nigam sparked one of the biggest controversies ever by a celebrity in recent times with his tweet on being woken up by the azaan. Of course, the nation was divided over his reaction, but a certain maulvi’s statement managed to get the popular playback singer to shave his head. Though on matters of religion, celebs have been known to keep shut several have acted otherwise this time round and the latest to jump onto the bandwagon is Saif Ali Khan.
In an interview with the Indian Express, Saif Ali Khan made his stance clear and said that it is perfectly alright for one to “express their views on decibel levels”, but he did find the tweet slightly aggressive initially. Saif also added that he does firmly believe that religion should be a private affair and we should work towards being a secular country. The actor said that he feels maybe the amplification of sound during azaan comes from a certain insecurity since minorities feel their presence should be made clear and that sound levels should follow certain rules across religions.
This is not the first time a row regarding sound levels in context to religion have come under the scanner and needless to say the azaan is not the only thing that often crosses tolerable religious levels. Javed Akhtar too spoke up on the matter and said that worshipping God is our right but nowhere should one person’s prayers disturb anyone else. Kangana Ranaut too said that though she loves the sound of azaan, Nigam has full freedom of speech and expression regarding his views.
Some took to Twitter to applaud Saif for his very balanced views on the row.
One of the most balanced, articulate & sensible interview I ve read in a long time. By an underrated #SaifAliKhan https://t.co/gfBYdXlogl
— NIKHIL DWIVEDI (@Nikhil_Dwivedi) April 24, 2017
Agreements and disagreements, but WOW! I didn’t know Saif Ali Khan is a sharp guy with such balanced views._ My bad! https://t.co/V33kM9xL9E
— Gaurav Pandhi (@GauravPandhi) April 23, 2017
“There is a god shaped hole in our consciousness today.” -Interesting interview. #SaifAliKhan https://t.co/Flq5UjelCZ
— Raj Nayak (@rajcheerfull) April 24, 2017
Saif Ali Khan’s interview is honest… brutally honest. We need more like him! https://t.co/S28DPX7OP1 via @IndianExpress
— Ram Subramanian (@Voice_Of_Ram) April 23, 2017
It remains to be seen where this whole decibel row around the azaan goes, but Sonu Nigam sure knows he has the right to express himself and does not seem to be one to back out of it anytime soon.
