Denied ticket over name, Punjabi singer cries foul

‘What’s in a name?’ did Shakespeare say! Ask singer Mohammad Sadiq.

‘What’s in a name?’ did Shakespeare say! Ask singer Mohammad Sadiq. He says he was not given a ticket to contest polls from Bhadaur in Sangrur district because of his name.

“I am not a Muslim and I do not practise the religion. This constituency is in the reserved category. And Muslims do not belong to that category.” Had he made it, Sadiq would have been the only artist to contest the 2007 Punjab Assembly elections.

A legend in his field, Sadiq is not happy with the treatment the Congress high command has meted out to him.

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“I am not a Muslim. This is the name my parents gave me. My mother’s name was Prisni Devi and my father was called Maghar. None of us are Muslims and my daughter has been married according to Anand Karaj, the Sikh way of marriage,” says Sadiq.

“I belong to the Doob caste which is a backward caste but no one is ready to listen and they have struck out my name from the list,” said Sadiq.

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