Cricket icon Wasim Akram sent a tweet on Sept 15 congratulating Pakistani boxing champion Mohammad Waseem and asking all citizens to treat the nation’s heroes better. He lamented the fact that the pugilist’s victory and arrival back home went unnoticed in the country.

This country has a habit of overlooking and ignoring its national heroes and artists until they are no more. Many iconic artists have died after spending their last days in pitiable conditions.

Two years ago, Nusrat Ara --famous for her character Bill Batori in popular children’s comedy series Ainak Wala Jinn-- was begging for three years at Lahore’s Data Darbar. After a hue and cry, she was rescued and taken to hospital for treatment of respiratory ailments where she died. In Sindh several artists have died penniless after receiving no help worth the name from the culture department.

It seems we wait for our iconic artists to die before acknowledging their talent.

Civil society, the government and media should acknowledge and provide for all national performers in their life time.

Riaz Mahar
Sukkur

Published in Dawn, September 22nd, 2019