History is not always written by resistance and shouting slogans
by taking to the roads. History is written by making use of the heart and mind
in equable ratios to inoculate common sense in a rather reckless, self-obsessed
and self-absorbed society. It is of vital importance that when everybody else
is silently toeing the line, there needs to be a voice of reason and balance
that needs to speak up. This voice is bound to annoy those who have fragile
egos, but that is an insignificant price to pay: at the end of the day, despite
the outcomes, truth must be spoken simply because truth always triumphs.
On Tuesday, the 11th of
April 2017, at 16.30, Ali posted something that resonated what each human being
ought to have followed without having to be told to follow such. I am posting his letter
in its entirety below –
An Open Letter to Event Organisers, School and Institutions and
Promoters:
To whomsoever it may concern
In advance of asking me for a performance, with this letter, I would
like to address a persistent issue I have been facing at my concerts for some
time.
There is a recurring culture of special or VIP seating areas at
concerts, placed right in front of the stage and assigned only to ‘special
guests’, faculty members, head of departments, principals and owners of
institutions. Therefore, in such an arrangement, the students, or indeed actual
fans, are almost always made to stand and watch and participate at a
considerable distance from the stage, well behind the VIP or special seating
which creates a huge distance between me the artist, and them, my audience, who
have often paid to be there. Please appreciate that as a performer, I cannot
help but feel this defeats the very purpose of having artists such as myself
perform for audiences where both of us are denied any direct interaction.
Speaking specifically about school concerts and without meaning to
moralise, I must mention here that it is my belief that among many others
values, a school’s education is to teach equality to our children; I myself
have been raised by two career educationalists, and speak from what I have been
taught by example, and with the utmost respect for educational institutions and
academics. Having this physical divide at concerts then goes against the very
spirit of equality we should be imparting. Concerts are arranged mostly for students
to be able to enjoy a form of healthy entertainment and by having them stand
huge distances from the stage to allow for other more ‘special’ guests, I feel
is setting a very wrong precedent.
It is my humble request to you then not to have this VIP area in front
of the stage and instead allow the real audience, the students and fans, to be
front and centre.
I hope the organisers and the institutions and the promoters reading this
take this to heart in the most constructive way possible. Let the music win.
Yours sincerely
Ali Zafar
