Singer Noble sued for ‘derogatory remarks’ on Indian PM Modi

An arrest warrant has been issued against singer Mainul Ahsan Noble in India for making derogatory remarks against the country’s prime minister Narendra Modi. He will be arrested immediately if he travels India now.

A case was filed against Noble on 25 May at the Bilonia police station in Tripura. Noble said he was aware of the case.

"I've heard about the lawsuit," Noble told Prothom Alo on Wednesday night.

“I'm currently shooting a music video for my new song. I will think about that later,” he added.

A certain Sumon Pal of Bilonia, Tripura, has filed the case against Noble for making negative comments about Narendra Modi on Facebook. The case was filed against Noble at the local Bologna police station under several sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act.

Prothom Alo learned that a copy of the case had been sent to India’s Union Home Ministry, the Indian Embassy in Dhaka and the district police superintendent. Noble will be arrested as soon as he enters India on the basis of that lawsuit.

When contacted, assistant high commissioner from Agartala Kiriti Chakma told Prothom Alo that they have been informed about the case. The news of Noble's case has been published in several media in India.

It is learned that Sumon Pal has demanded cancellation of Nobel's visa to India and confiscation of his passport for making bad remarks against his country's prime minister in the chargesheet. Earlier, Nobel had provoked controversy by making indecent remarks against world-renowned poet Rabindranath Tagore.

Sumon Pal told the media that as an Indian, he could not accept such defamatory remarks against the PM of his country, so he has filed a case against Noble. He also demanded exemplary punishment for Noble for making such indecent remarks against the prime minister.

While singing on the Indian reality show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa of Zee Bangla, Noble was criticised for making negative remarks. He commented on changing the national anthem of Bangladesh before the grand finale of the programme.

At the time he also said that there was no good music director in Bangladesh to work with. Even no female artiste in the country who can perform a duet with him, he had said.

On 19 May, Noble posted a status on Facebook which drew flak. He said over the last decade Bangladeshi singers had achieved nothing and he even wished to teach songs to the legendary singers of Bangladesh. Music lovers came down heavily on Noble’s Facebook status terming it a sheer arrogance.

At first no one could believe when they heard such unwarranted remarks from Noble. Many fans thought his Facebook profile was hacked and someone posted the status to defame him.

Noble came on Facebook Live a few hours later and only then everyone was convinced that Noble had deliberately said such arrogant things. Noble admitted to have posted the status knowingly at the time.

He said on Live, “Hey brothers, I heard my profile has been hacked. No, it was not hacked. I am the same Noble. I can pull my cheek, touch my nose. See? No problem at all.”

He was summoned to the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) office after people had criticised some of his social media activities.

“Perhaps, I’ve gone a bit too far. People have become angry with me. I apologise,” Noble said in a video message later.

Meanwhile, the news of Noble’s marriage, that he revealed on Facebook, was spread all over the social media.

He was trolled saying it was his third marriage. In response to that troll Noble said, "I have never been married before.".

“However, I had a number of relationships before. There were so many girls that I won’t even be able to count. The news of the third marriage is a rumour.”

Noble also said that the new song 'Tamasha' is completed. Emon Chowdhury is mastering the mix. The video for the song was shot on Wednesday. "I want to release the promo on 29 May," he said. The song will be released on YouTube on 7 June.