ISRA condemns manhandling of Sonu Nigam in Mumbai, urges govt to ensure artists' safety during public events

The Indian Singers Rights Association (ISRA) on Tuesday condemned the alleged 'manhandling' incident during singer Sonu Nigam's concernt in Mumbai's Chembur area on Monday night and urged the governments of all states of the country to ensure safety and security of artists during public events.

ISRA's Chief Operating Officer Sanjay Tandon appealed to governments of all states of the country to ensure the security of the artists during the performance as well as after the event folllowing 'manhandling' of Sonu Nigam during a concert in Chembur area of Mumbai on Monday night.

"The incident is absolutely condemnable. The way pushing and all done... team members and family members were hurt, and Sonuji was hurt. Such incidents should be avoided irrespective of whoever it is. The police have already registered the complaint. They are looking into it," CEO Tandon said while speaking to ANI.

He said, "The entire community of artists including singers and musicians are deeply concerned. It's sad that an artist had to face such things. An artist goes to the stage to entertain people. And when he comes down from the stage, the mob pounce on him for a selfie. This needs to be stopped."

"They are celebrity singers. Every person wants to have a picture with them. But there's a way of doing it. If they pounce upon singers in such a manner, their security is at stake. Not only that, the singer might be tired or doesn't have the mood to get clicked. In such circumstances, if an artist says to a fan 'go away', the media portrays him as 'rude' and 'arrogant'. So what does an artist do?" asked Sanjay. "Therefore, I appeal to all the state governments to make a security arrangement for singers," he added.

Sanjay drew the reference to the stage shows abroad, where no common man is allowed on the stage. He said, "In abroad nobody is allowed to go on the stage. I make a request to the enforcement agencies, the police that such arrangements should be made here, where only the artist will be allowed on the stage. On behalf of ISRA, I request to keep our singers safe. They are the gems of our country."

Sanjay reminded that this is not the first time when such an incident happened. "Earlier Kailash Kher was attacked. Even our beloved singer KK expired due to this mob, rush...So I believe there should be some kind of notifications, rules from government or police authorities to put a check on such incidents."

After the alleged manhandelling and scuffle, Mumbai Police registered a case against Swapnil Phaterpekar, son of Shiv Sena MLA Prakash Phaterpekar, on charges of voluntarily causing hurt, wrongful restraint and endangering life following Sonu's complaint.

Swapnil is allegedly being held responsible for manhandling Sonu Nigam and his friends, police said, adding he will be called for an enquiry. In this whole incident, Sonu's associate Rabbani was hurt and needed preliminary treatment at the hospital.

( With inputs from ANI )

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