A few hours ago, news reports started coming in from various media houses of how singer Shaan, while performing at a concert in Assam was pelted with stones and paper balls.
This created a lot of hue and cry on social media, where people were getting angry over the bad treatment given to the singer while Assamese people were seen apologizing to Shaan for the heckler and stating how not all of them were the same.
However, Shaan’s latest tweets have shown how the media might be unnecessarily hyping the thing up with no good reason.
What Is The Media Saying Happened?
As per media reports, while performing at the Sarusajai stadium in Guwahati on 28th October 2018, Sunday, Shaan was heckled with paper balls and small stones.
It is also reported that the cause of this was due to Shaan singing a Bengali song, while a video on social media allegedly has someone from the audience saying, “This is Assam and not Bengal.”
Apparently there is also some clips of Shaan saying that, “Don’t make this political. Never do this with an artist.”
Shaan then commented on how he was still performing even while suffering from a high fever and was on antibiotics. He then walked off the stage after saying how he cannot perform for such kind of people who do these acts, but reportedly came back after the organisers requested him to do so.
A lot of really credible media like ANI, Firstpost, India Today, Times Now News, Nagaland Post, Hindustan Times and more reported on this and specifically used the words ‘stones’ in their reports.
During his performance at the Sarusajai stadium in Guwahati on Sunday, October 28, famous Bollywood singer Shaan was pelted with paper balls and small stones after he started singing a Bengali song.
– Times Now News
Pebbles and paper balls were pelted at singer Shaan during a concert in Guwahati’s Sarusajai stadium on 29 October after he sang a Bengali song, according to news agency ANI.
– Quint
Singer Shaan had to stop his concert mid-way after a section of the audience pelted stones and paper balls at him
– Firstpost
The singer was pelted with stones and paper balls after he sang a Bengali song, according to ANI.
– Hindustan Times
Assam: Stones and paper balls were pelted at Singer Shaan during a concert in Guwahati's Sarusajai stadium yesterday after he sang a Bengali song. 'Please respect the performer' Shaan told the crowd. pic.twitter.com/SRaAvmyOa5
— ANI (@ANI) October 30, 2018
This is a video of what exactly happened:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3AM4lcJB1s
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Shaan Set The Record Straight
In reality though, it seems that things were not as dire as the media reports were making everything out to be.
Calling out Quint, who were perhaps one of the first few publications to report on this matter, Shaan set the record straight as to what exactly happened.
https://twitter.com/singer_shaan/status/1057176604789620736
So it seems that all the sites reporting and including stones in their pieces were wrong entirely and even the Bengali song being sung is not verified really.
Even in the video, you can see it was just one paper ball thrown by one person, and Shaan called them out instantly.
Even in his tweet, the singer is asking media to not spread lies or exaggerate things and to just let the matter lie to rest.
Where Did This News Come From?
The first question this raises is where exactly did this news come from, who is the source that reported on this matter first?
It can be noticed that several of the news sites cited ANI as the source for their claims. So if ANI is the news source, then what kind of fabrication is this, did they not properly research and get their facts right before reporting on it?
And if they are not the source, then who is the originator, of this kind of fake news that could only create more civic unrest and lead to fights between regions in India.
Secondly, where exactly did the stones aspect come in from?
Also, in 95% of the reports, it was stated clearly that this incident happened because Shaan was singing a Bengali song, but we have to wonder as to who verified these claims?
Were these reasons just assumed by the reporters and journalists or did someone reach out to the heckler and try to get the full story instead of just speculating and creating bs reasons of Bengali song being sung.
Also, if this was actually verified and the heckler did throw a paper ball at Shaan for singing a Bengali song, then it was simply an idiotic reason to do so.
Shaan is a Bengali, and there is nothing wrong with singing in your mother tongue no matter where you are. An Indian artist is not heckled for singing in Hindi if they perform outside India or even in other regions of the country where Hindi is not the speaking language. Then why bring this up now?
Also, some news sites when to the extent of including the current NRC issue and giving that as an explanation as to why the relations between Assam and Bengal were stiff.
I would like to request someone to kindly explain how NRC is impacting this concert, allow us to understand the link of the NRC issue and throwing a paper stone at Shaan for supposedly singing a Bengali song in Assam.
Lastly all respect to Shaan for handling this whole thing so maturely and professionally and him later saying that we should not paint a whole state based on one such incident was large hearted and commendable for sure.
Ever since the news broke he has been trying to calm down the situation and even responded to several Assamese people, who were apologising to him by saying that he was not targeting any one person and held no grudges against the state or its people.
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 https://t.co/Wl548iWF2U
— Shaan (@singer_shaan) October 29, 2018
Please don’t be .. was a great night .. and I should’ve kept my cool .. Sorry to Spoil the party at the end https://t.co/YgWBwauvJs
— Shaan (@singer_shaan) October 29, 2018
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 🙏 https://t.co/2pcE1IUYLe
— Shaan (@singer_shaan) October 29, 2018
We hope to see more such Indian artists who are keen on uniting the country than dividing it.
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: Times Now News, India Today, Firstpost
Find the blogger at: @chirali_08
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