All India Cine Workers Association (AICWA) on Tuesday banned singer Mika Singh from the Indian film industry for performing at an event in Karachi, Pakistan.
With the scrapping of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution that gave Jammu & Kashmir a special status, the tension between India and Pakistan has increased and fans were miffed by the fact that Mika performed at a family event of former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf’s relative. Certain reports allege that Mika charged around USD 150,000 (Rs 1.06 crore) for the performance.
AICWA, in a statement released on Tuesday, said that they have taken the decision of boycotting the singer’s association with the film production houses, music companies, and online music content providers.
AICWA President Suresh Gupta added that he will make sure that no one works with Mika Singh in India and if anyone does “he will face legal consequences in the court of law.”
The statement further said that at a time when the tension between India and Pakistan is at its peak (because of the removal of Article 370), “Mika has put money above the nation.”
Here’s the official statement of AICWA:
Famous Pakistani journalist, Naila Inayat tweeted a 30-second video of Mika singing his hit song Jumme Ki Raat Hai with the caption, “Happy that Indian singer Mika Singh performed at the mehndi of Gen Musharraf’s relative recently in Karachi. God forbid if it was Nawaz Sharif’s relative it would be raining ghadari k hashtag already.”
The videos of Mika Singh performing has gone viral on Twitter and has received a lot of flak from both, Indian and Pakistani Twitterati.