Bengaluru: Muslim woman trolled for singing Hindu hymn on reality show

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, March 8, 2017: A Muslim woman from Shivamogga is being trolled for the exact reason she was praised for on a reality television show: she sang a Hindu devotional song. Administrators of a Facebook page with nearly 46,000 followers posted a picture of 22-year-old Suhana Sayeed along with a long message in Kannada, essentially condemning her for daring to sing in public. Not only did they have a problem with her choice of song, they weren’t happy that she sang in front of men. The hate-filled post is being met with some opposition, however, with many coming forward to defend Ms Sayeed.

While auditioning for the show, Ms Sayeed, wearing a colourful hijab, sang for precisely 100 seconds. The three judges listening to her were blindfolded, perhaps to ensure their only focus was her voice. At the end of her audition, their blindfolds came off and their effusive praise began. "Your voice is really good," said one, as the audience applauded. "By singing a Hindu devotional song you’ve become the symbol of unity. Music is a medium which unites people, differences disappear."

Ironic then that one of the lines in the Facebook post reads: "You have not achieved any great feat...Your parents will not go to heaven as you have exposed yourself to other men. Stop wearing the hijab, you don’t know how to respect it."

"Dear Admin, I have one thing to say... Stop deciding who will go to Heaven and who will go to Hell and grow up," writes Abdul Mannan on Facebook.

Moidin Shaeb points out that there have been numerous instances of Hindus and Muslims singing religious songs from communities that they may not belong to. "Why are we fighting each other," he asks. "Islam teaches us to respect all religions and human beings."

If the contestant was a man, would you have reacted the same way, asks Santhosh Malavalli on Facebook. "She has a fabulous voice...Let’s pray to God to give her strength to win the competition"

According to some local media reports, supporters of Ms Sayeed are looking into filing a case against the trolls for inciting hatred amongst communities and threatening a law-abiding citizen.