[wp_ad_camp_1]Mourning to the Tunes of Dancing
By Chronicler
Islamabad
They say true humour comes out of pain. If it holds any true then true mourning could also come out of dancing. Normally you dance in a celebratory mood but that’s always not the case.
Dancing is an act which could be performed for any purpose and it can’t be confined to jubilation only. One may also tap the floor in solidarity with crisis survivors.
In 2012 in a fire incident in Karachi in a garment factory in Baldia Town around 260 workers were burnt to death and some bodies were charred beyond recognition.
The results of DNA tests were awaited and due to it some bodies were yet to be buried. At this juncture of time a concert was organized by an NGO and the purpose of it was to pay tribute to martyrs of the fire incident. So concerts are not always to mark jubilation.
Afzal Butt is a hero like personality who is emerging like a legend in the fraternity of journalists. He has sacrificed a lot and continues to do so and doing it for a cause and it is the welfare of the journalists.
Nowadays his fraternity is facing the ever worst crisis in history of Pakistan as thousands of journalists have already been rendered jobless and many more would become jobless in days to come because of saturation in the media industry.
Those who have lost jobs are clueless as what to do next to earn livelihood. Those who are serving with some media organizations are also in danger zone and some of them were forced to accept cut in their salaries which was in some cases was reported up to 40 percent.
Butt has been protesting against this dilemma for months and finally he decided to take floor for dancing at the National Press Club Islamabad either to refresh himself or to push the boat out for a while after consecutive failures which he and other leaders of the community have being facing in securing jobs of fellow journalists.
In a viral video Butt is seen being showered with currency notes along with the singer. The singer is getting applause for her singing but Butt is being showered with the Rs10 currency notes for the cause which is perhaps yet to be accomplished. Showering of currency notes of Rs10 denomination means a lot for any jobless journalist who knows boom period of media is over and his marathon race is not over yet with the profession. This scribe is also witness to another event like it which took place couple of years ago at Rawalpindi Press Club. Butt was the hero of the function where a female singer was singing melodious song and Butt was being graced with the ‘Wail’ of Rs5,000 currency notes. Point to be noted Rs5,000 currency notes were not being showered at him but they were being placed on his turban to congratulate him on his triumph which had taken place in Quetta in an election of the fraternity.
If dancing was meant to celebrate some event then it also got some justification. After all jobs are not sole purpose of one’s creation.
Moreover, leader like Nelson Mandela had needed break and Butt is also not an exception.
Mandela after ruling South Africa for five had refused to run for presidency again.
Butt isn’t excusing for anything like it as his services would be available for the community in any case as cause is more important than anything else. One may ask about connection between leader like Mandela and Butt. The answer is very simple. Mandela liberated his fellowmen from slavery and Butt and other prominent leaders like him also did the similar job for the community. They struggled for the rights of journalists and it was entirely bad luck of many journalists that they lost their jobs. According to some social activists being servant or an employee to someone is also a kind of slavery and acquiring freedom in this connection is also an achievement.
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