Daily Times

Adnan Siddiqui posed an important and supremely relevant question on his Twitter after it was announced that the late Durdana Butt was to be awarded the Pride of Performance award in 2022.

The Meray Paas Tum Ho actor took to Twitter to share a picture of the news about veteran actor Durdana Butt’s award, which was announced just days after she passed away from a prolonged illness that was exacerbated by COVID-19.

“Why does it take an artist to die for his/her craft to be recognised?” asked Adnan Siddiqui.

If that question wasn’t hard-hitting enough, he further added a grim reality, saying, “We either honour them posthumously or tell them they are spent force by conferring lifetime achievement.”

The actor called for more respect for the country’s artists, saying that it was too late to bestow awards now after one has passed away.

This isn’t the first time that Adnan Siddiqui has spoken out for the rights of the country’s heroes, be it artists or athletes. Days after Olympians Talha Talib and Arshad Nadeem made the country proud with a close competition despite losing out on medals, Adnan highlighted a forgotten Olympian on his Twitter.

He took to Twitter early on Aug. 10 to share a picture of former Olympian-turned-rickshaw driver Muhammad Ashiq who competed at the 1960 and 1964 Summer Olympics as a cyclist before being forced into obscurity due to neglect by relevant authorities, as an example of the short-lived hero status of our Olympians and the gross neglect that they face.

“The hypocrisy of making them heroes when they bring medals and leaving them to live a life of misery,” he said, adding, “These champs are our pride, our responsibility.” He also added a hashtag that read “take care of our stars”.