HIBAPRESS – I. El-Smlali
The retired artist Hashim El Bustaoui chose to break the silence regarding what he sees as transgressions within the Moroccan artistic community, considering that his public appearance was not a luxury but a price for the harassment he was subjected to since choosing his "new path".
With a tone that combines the "son of the people" who rejects injustice and the opponent who does not soften, El Bustaoui confirmed that the critics' criticisms are what pushed him "to network" in this direct way, clarifying that despite maintaining the human side in his dealings with yesterday's colleagues, he will not stand idly by in the face of the "empty boldness" that targets the constants of society, declaring himself a "Boghtat" who will deprive those he describes as provocative of the taste of sleep with words whose truth they know well. In the context of his artistic comparisons, El Bustaoui cited the talent of the artist Huda El-Rihani as a measure of the truth that the current scene lacks, describing her as a "ghoul" that terrifies actresses simply by her spontaneous presence and honest words, and considered that her absence from productions is not a coincidence, but rather a deliberate exclusion because her true art reveals the falsehood of those who feed on stirring controversy and mocking the religious. El Bustaoui accused some drama makers and actors of being obsessed with provoking the feelings of Moroccans and playing on the rope of touching religion as an essential condition for their emergence, considering that this approach reflects a creative bankruptcy that tries to cover the deficiency with reckless audacity. In conclusion, El Bustaoui placed his post within the framework of a "testimony of truth" from those who experienced the backstage of the art community and its secrets, stressing that he does not appoint himself as a guardian of religion, but rather speaks in the language of the Muslim who could not tolerate what he saw while he was in the heart of the fray. In a decisive tone that does not accept interpretation, he made "the beard and the niqab" a red line that prevents touching them, linking them to his personal identity and the identity of his wife, and with the phrase "point bar", El Bustaoui closed the circle on a stern warning: that religion and the sacred are lines that do not accept tampering or ridicule, and that playing in this area will be met with frank and harsh attitudes that are commensurate with the size of the "ugliness" that is received.
