Video: Coldplay sang Vande Mataram & ‘allegedly’ disrespected the Indian flag the same night
Chris Martin with the Indian National Flat during the concert
Before thousands of fans could even get over the sheer thrill of witnessing the British rock band ‘Coldplay’ perform live, Nationalist Congress Party spokesman Nawab Malik has alleged that its lead singer disrespected the Indian flag during the band’s concert in Mumbai yesterday.
“There Is a video grab from Coldplay’s concert in Mumbai, where the band’s lead singer is seen insulting the Indian flag,” he alleged.
The former Maharashtra minister sought an unconditional apology from the singer, along with BJP and Shiv Sena leaders who were present at the concert, for allegedly ‘hurting the sentiments’ of 120 crore Indians.
The video of the alleged incident has gone viral on social media.
The band, lead by its frontman Chris Martin, took stage around 8:30 pm and performed for over an hour at the MMRDA grounds.
“You have waited for us to come and perform in India for 16 years. You’ve been patient and beautiful,” said Martin, before performing several memorable songs, including ‘Paradise’, ‘Hymm For The Weekend’, ‘Viva La Vida’, ‘Yellow’ and ‘Fix You’.
The band ended the Global Citizen Festival India concert on a high note last evening by singing ‘Vande Mataram’ with music maestro A R Rahman and also waved the national flag.
Several Bollywood celebrities and some international artists also shared the stage.
Among the celebrities present at the gala were Amitabh Bachchan, Alia Bhatt, Ranveer Singh, Katrina Kaif, Sonakshi Sinha, Parineeti Chopra, Monali Thakur, Arijit Singh, Arjun Rampal, Suzanne Khan as well as Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was earlier supposed to attend the event, could not make it. He, however, joined via a video link that was beamed live.
The highlights of Modi’s address was when he quoted lines from Bob Dylan’s iconic song, ‘The times they are a-changin’.
The festival, launched in 2012, partners with Global Poverty Project, a movement aiming to end extreme poverty by 2030.
The event had ran into controversy after NCP criticised the BJP-led state government for providing concessions for the festival, and said that it had been planned by the ruling party to woo voters for next year’s BMC polls.
Video clip of Martin singing Vande Mataram:
Music knows no boundaries, just like the love for one’s mother … Vande Mataram! #GlobalCitizenFestivalIndia @coldplay @arrahman pic.twitter.com/b7hnv265nJ
— Sonia Huria (@Soniahuria) November 20, 2016
Video clip of Martin allegedly disrespecting the National Flag:
They may get in trouble for this. Probably an FIR is coming their way. #GCIOnVh1 #Coldplay #GlobalCitizenIndia pic.twitter.com/2wRvEA34Yj
— Rohit Vats (@nawabjha) November 19, 2016
