Celebrated singer Shaan was subjected to harassment in Assam capital Guwahati where he was performing at a concert on Sunday. The incident happened in between the show when Shaan started a Bengali number, a person from the audience threw a paper ball at him and apparently asked to stop singing and shouted ‘This is Assam, not Bengal.’
“I don’t really want to fan the incident further. It was an unfortunate moment. What happened was a little disappointing and I couldn’t help but react on stage. But I have moved on from the incident and don’t want to further talk about it. All I want to tell young people is that don’t politicise and create a barrier between a state and culture,” Shaan was quoted by indianexpress.com.
A video that went viral showed Shaan getting furious after seeing the paper ball thrown at him and telling the audience not to disrespect a performer and not to create a political issue. “If you don’t like it, you can go away. I had a high fever. I am on antibiotics. And still, I am here performing all night for you,” he said. The peeved singer was seen leaving the stage, but came back after a while and resumed his performance for the cheering audience.
Soon after the incident, the singer took to Twitter to post a clarification from his side. “Just for the records …loved my Assam Tour!! Saw the most fascinating sights…made new friends..had huge turnouts at every concert.. Over one unfortunate incident, it would be VeryWrong to Tarnish this Beautifull State!!! Whatever happened was in the heat of the moment (sic),” he tweeted.
Shaan though got an apologetic reply on the micro-blogging site from a fan and he also replied to it. “My outcry was not directed to that One Individual but to all who are harbouring these ‘Regional Devide’ Sentiments!! The Youth must not fall into this trap #StayUnited (sic),” he replied on Twitter.
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