Media365
Gujarati folk singer Aditya Gadhvi, best known for his Coke Studio Bharat track Khalasi, has distanced himself from an announcement made during a Navratri event in Ahmedabad where he was performing. The announcement, which asked non-Hindus and Muslims to leave the venue, was not his message and was made without consulting him or his team, he said in a statement posted on Instagram.
The controversy erupted during the Rang Morla ft. Aditya Gadhvi programme at Savvana Party Plot in Ahmedabad. During the event, anchor Akash Trivedi made an announcement from the stage asking non-Hindus and Muslims to leave the grounds.
According to PTI, Trivedi said members of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) were present “to protect Sanatan Dharma”, shared a helpline number and urged attendees to report people they considered suspicious.
The announcement, made on a stage that Aditya Gadhvi was performing on and at an event that carried his name, drew immediate criticism on social media, with many holding the singer responsible for allowing the exclusionary message to be delivered at his show.
The announcement drew criticism on social media, with some users questioning the singer’s association with the event. Gadhvi subsequently issued a statement clarifying that he had neither approved nor participated in the announcement.
“A lot is being said in my name. I am an artist. I am a proud Hindu. Navratri is the most sacred time of my year, and standing on a stage singing for Maa Ambe in front of thousands of people dancing garba is the greatest blessing of my life,” he wrote. “What happened at the event was not my doing, and it was not my message,” posted on Instagram.
He said a group of people took control of the backstage area and used the platform to deliver a message he had no part in crafting or approving. “My team and the anchor were not consulted, and we were not involved in any capacity,” he wrote.
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Gadhvi also spoke about the inclusive nature of garba, saying the tradition had brought people from different faiths together for generations.
“Garba has never asked anyone for their surname. For generations, people of every faith in Gujarat and across India have played garba side by side, and that is what makes it ours,” he wrote.
He concluded by distancing his music and devotion from the message delivered at the event.
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“Anyone who comes to a garba with love and respect for Maa is welcome in my circle. That is not politics. That is just how I was raised. My stage is for music and for devotion,” he wrote.
What the VHP said
Gujarat VHP spokesperson Hitendrasinh Rajput told PTI that the Bajrang Dal, the youth wing of the VHP, routinely visits garba events in Ahmedabad and asks organisers to prevent non-Hindus from entering the venues. He said members sometimes apply tilak on the foreheads of male attendees and remove individuals they consider “suspicious” from the grounds.
