Bhojpuri folk singer Devi recently participated in an event in Bihar to commemorate the birth centenary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
However, her performance took a dramatic turn when she sang a rendition of the bhajan “Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram.” Devi was allegedly forced to stop singing the bhajan after some audience members objected to the line “Ishwar Allah Tero Naam.”
In an interview with ANI, Devi explained what happened at the event. “I am shocked. I was singing a bhajan, a favourite one of Mahatma Gandhi. Big leaders of the BJP including (Bihar) dy CM Vijay Sinha and Ashwini Chaubey were there. A few people of ‘Hindu Putra Sangathan’ started the ruckus when the line ‘ishwar allah tero naam’ came. The on-stage leaders couldn’t figure out how to manage the situation and a few of them came to me and asked to apologise so that the situation could be brought under control,” she said.
“I apologised as I didn’t want the situation to deteriorate as I had also received ‘Atal Vishisht Samman’ from the deputy CM there. Now, I think that strict action must be taken against those people who created chaos there… I am receiving threats as well. it’s a disrespect to women. Such a mean act on the birth anniversary of Atal Bihari Vajpayee who kept all the communities together, is shameful… The party should take action against such people. I thank all the people who came in support of me,” Devi added.
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi also reacted to the incident, sharing a video clip of it on social media and criticising the protestors.”They offer flowers to Bapu to show off to the world but in reality, they have no respect for him. They take the name of Babasaheb Ambedkar to show off but in reality, they insult him. The BJP hates our tolerant and inclusive culture and tradition so much that they insult our great men again and again,” she wrote in Hindi.
(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ’s editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
