This 70-Year-Old Iranian Man Started Dancing In Public And Became A Symbol of Joy And Resistance
“My reason for dancing is to make people happy,” 70-year-old Sadegh Bana Motejaded, also known by his nickname Booghy, said.
A video of a 70-year-old man named Sadegh Bana Motejaded singing and dancing in a fish market in Rasht, Iran, has grown into an unexpected symbol of resistance and a demand for freedom and happiness in the country.
Bana Motejaded, also known by his nickname Booghy, which is derived from the word speakerphone in Persian, went viral in early December 2023 and kicked off a wave of similar dances inspired by his video in Iran.
The incident is noteworthy because dancing in public, especially by women and between men and women, is banned in Iran, according to the New York Times.
In the video, Bana Motejaded, who owns a small stall in the market, can be seen jubilantly singing and dancing as others around him chanted to the chorus of “Oh, oh, oh, oh!”.
“My reason for dancing is to make people happy,” Bana Motejaded told a local television reporter, according to the New York Times. “I only want people to be happy and to change their mood.”
However, Iranian authorities weren’t filled with the same kind of joy at seeing Bana Motejaded’s video and took action.
On Dec. 7, local police announced they had arrested 12 men who appeared in the viral video, took down their social media accounts and removed the video from several websites.
They removed all of Bana Motejaded’s Instagram posts and replaced his profile photo with a logo of the Islamic Republic’s judiciary, as well as a post saying “this page has been shut down for creating criminal content” and that the person who had engaged in the activity “has been dealt with”, according to the New York Times.
A source told the New York Times that authorities also detained Bana Motejaded for several hours and accused him of “instigating against the government”.
The source said the 12 men were beaten, threatened with legal action and made to sign a pledge that they would never sing or dance in public.
In response to the news of Bana Motejaded’s arrest, people expressed solidarity.
They shared videos of themselves singing and dancing to the song on social media in what became known as the “happiness campaign”.
Even the Asia Football Confederation shared a video of Iranian football players and teams dancing to the song.
Their actions prompted the authorities to reinstate Bana Motejaded’s Instagram account with all his videos, even denying on Dec. 11 that they had ever arrested him.
Bana Motejad now has more than one million followers on his Instagram and continues to post videos of him singing and dancing.
