Daily Times

Pakistan’s singing sensation Ali Zafar raised the issue of VIP seating areas in an open letter to event organisers, schools, institutions and promoters.

The star spoke up against his person reservations against the VIP seating arrangements in most concerts. He said, “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 which creates a huge distance between me the artist, and them, my audience, who have often paid to be there.”

He said that such an arrangement “defeats the purpose of having artists such as myself perform for audiences, where both of us are denied any direct interaction”.

The singer also said that “it is my belief that among many others values, a school’s education is to teach equality to our children. Having this physical divide at concerts then goes against the very spirit of equality we should be imparting”.

He added, “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.”

Ali Muhammad Zafar is a Pakistani singer-songwriter, model, actor and painter.