Artistes of K-P protest for revival of industry

Complain of absence of drama, stage and theatre in the region for them to perform

PESHAWAR: The acting industry of the province is dying; senior artistes have no opportunities to perform, and the few avenues that were available have also succumbed to copyrights violations. This has brought the artistes out on the roads.

“Here in K-P, we have no drama production and no stage or theater to perform. How will the artists manage to live,” senior artist Sultan Husain said talking to the The Express Tribune, while protesting on Sher Shah Suri Road along with dozens of other senior artistes.



They were seeking government patronage to revive the performing arts in the province that had produced stalwart actors of the South Asia like Yousf Khan (Dilip Kumar), Raj Kumar and Raj Kapoor and Shah Rukh Khan.

“The arts and artists both are dying in K-P,” Husain said. Instability in the region due to extremism and terrorism has affected the drama, film and music sectors the most. There was nearly no drama production in Peshawar, the protesting performers said.

The film industry that was once producing more than a dozen films every year has now succumbed to their own deeds and produce only a few low quality movies for worn out cinemas.

“When two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. We are the grass. We are suffering a lot,” said Umer Gul. “The field of art is not respected here in K-P. Artists are not considered valuable beings in this society,” he lamented.



The K-P government has been giving artists thousands of rupees in stipends since the last few years. Since that did not do much good, the provincial government has started a culture and heritage project for these artistes to perform at local levels.

“We are doing whatever we can for their wellbeing,” Directorate of Culture Deputy Director Ajmal Khan told The Express Tribune. “We are working on setting up an endowment fund for the artistes that will hopefully give them access to health and education facilities,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 28^th, 2017.