GUWAHATI, April 17 � Refusing to buckle under any kind of threat or pressure from the Paresh Baruah faction of the ULFA, singing sensation Zubeen Garg today said that he would keep on singing Hindi songs.
Taking on the ULFA for issuing a threat to artistes against singing Hindi songs during the Bihu festival, Zubeen said it was ridiculous on the part of the militant outfit to issue such a diktat.
�Nobody � be it the ULFA or any other organization �can create a language barrier for an artiste by issuing any kind of threat. Bihu is also a festival of music and everyone has the right to enjoy the festivities irrespective of whether he is an Assamese or is from any other community. And music certainly has no language,� Zubeen told The Assam Tribune.
�Of course, if someone performs in an indecent manner, he or she should be restricted but banning songs of any language is not justified. I will keep performing even if I am shot at,� he said, adding that he had the good wishes of the people of the State to keep singing.
Zubeen has a number of hit Bollywood songs to his credit, including the chartbuster �Ya Ali� which made him a voice to reckon with in the Mumbai film industry.
�Hindi is our national language and we should respect it. We have grown up listening to Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeskar and this development in Assam is very unfortunate,� he said, referring to the email issued by the ULFA where it has condemned Zubeen for defying its diktat by singing Hindi songs. �The proscribed outfit had also threatened Zubeen with �dire consequences� and said that if the singer-music composer did not refrain from singing Hindi songs during Bihu functions its �dispute� with Zubeen would transform into a �clash� and �only time will tell where and how the clash will end.�
