People's Democracy

ORGANISED at Ambedkar College in Hyderabad on the sidelines of the 17th congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the week-long folk arts festival highlighted the importance of promoting and popularising folk arts as an effective means of communication and inspiration in support of the people’s movements, and also the need of protecting this cultural heritage from the onslaught of imperialism. As many as 61 folk art forms were on display from March 17 to 23 by the teams of traditional artists coming from all the 23 districts of Andhra Pradesh.

The folk arts festival drew large numbers of audience daily and the performance of the artists was enthusiastically applauded. Every day the performances were preceded by a meeting in which eminent people from various fields of arts participated and distributed prizes to the artists. The folk arts festival demonstrated the tradition of the communist movement and also its determination to popularise the traditional folk arts of the downtrodden.

Jyoti Basu, member of the CPI(M) Polit Bureau and former chief minister of West Bengal, inaugurated the folk arts festival on March 17, by beating a drum, with the drum sound immediately drawing rhythmic and enthusiastic response from the large audience. Speaking on the occasion, Basu asserted that the final triumph would be of the progressive and forward looking forces who are active in the all the fields --- political, cultural and ideological --- even though there has been an upsurge of fundamentalist and disruptive forces. He regretting that enough efforts have not been made during the 53 years of independence to develop the folk arts which exemplified the country’s unity in diversity.

What Basu stressed in particular was the importance of our folk arts forms as a powerful means of rousing the consciousness of the mass of people in support of their democratic rights and movements. He also stressed the need for rising above individualism and consumerism to tackle social problems. He recalled the role played by artists and intellectuals during the independence struggle. Organised under the banner of the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA) which was formed in 1941, these artists roused the consciousness of the people against the British rule. Formed a little earlier, in 1936, the Progressive Writers Association also played a similar role against the fascist onslaught on civilisation.

About the folk arts scene in West Bengal, Jyoti Basu said the Left Front government has set up a Folk Arts Academy has been set up in Kolkata, with units in predominantly tribal areas in West Bengal. Every year a folk arts festival is organised in Kolkata and the state government helps the artists in various ways. A museum for displaying their handicrafts was also set up. Such concerted efforts need to be made throughout the country, Basu said.

B V Raghavulu, secretary of the Andhra Pradesh state committee of the CPI(M), presided over the meeting. Nataraja Ramakrishna, eminent dance teacher and M Nagabhushana Sarma, a research scholar, also participated in the programme.

The meeting on March 18 was presided over by V Srinivasa Rao, editor of Telugu daily Prajasakti, who explained how in the state the communist movement popularised folk arts for a cultural renaissance and stressed their potential as an alternative to the imperialist and communal culture. V Lalitha, a reserach scholar, and noted film director B Narsingh Rao also participated in the programme.

On March 19, Mohd Saleem, minister for youth services and minorities welfare in the Left Front government of West Bengal, explained how the IMF, World Bank and World Trade Organisation have been attacking our cultural heritage also. This is in fact a part of their onslaught on the economic and political sovereignty of the third world countries. He said folk arts reflected the aspirations of the people during the independence struggle and also during the heroic Telangana armed struggle.

A former leader of the CPI(M) legislature party, Narra Raghava Reddy, himself a folk artist, presided over the meeting. He said folk arts have the strength to enlighten the people by effectively conveying to the people the message in their own language. Poet M N Reddy recollected how the communist movement popularised the folk arts in the state.

On this occasion, Mohd Saleem released a special issue titled Poraatapadhamlo, a compendium of the life of several communist revolutionaries and their struggles, published by Prajasakti.

Speaking on March 20, Subhashini Ali, president of the All India Democratic Women’s Association, said characterised by unity in diversity, our culture is unique in the world and that we have to protect and preserve it from the attacks being launched by the imperialist powers and communal forces. She said the people’s culture is still alive among the tribals, schedule castes and backward classes; it is they who have kept the folk arts alive over thousands of years.

K Krishna Murthy, member of the CPI(M) state committee, presided over the meeting. Professor B Venkateswarlu and film director K Ranga Rao also participated on this day.

On March 21, former Prajasakti editor V R Bommareddy, Adabala and A Anasuyamma participated in the programme. On March 22, CPI(M) Central Committee member Suneet Chopra cautioned against the imperialist attempts to impose on us the slavish ideology that every individual should be and should be viewed as a consumer. He stressed the need for fighting against imperialist globalisation that would lead to disruption and disintegration.

On this day, Suneet Chopra released Jana Kavanam, a compendium of poetry against globalisation. It includes creations by as many as 140 writers and was published by Prajasakti Sahitya Samstha. Its editor Telakapalli Ravi and Dr Prasad Reddy participated in the programme.

On the concluding day, West Bengal chief minister and CPI(M) Polit Bureau Buddhadev Bhattacharya urged the creative writers and artists to play a vigorous role in protecting the country’s culture. Their art forms, poetry and writings can help bridge the gap between the majority and minority communities and foster communal harmony. He reminded that dark forces are trying to disintegrate our country in the name of Hindutva, and referred to what had happened in Ayodhya and the mayhem that was taking place in Gujarat. Bhattacharya said those who believe in the traditional harmony of our people should come forward, irrespective of their political affinities, to fight against these dark forces.

Folk arts are the mediums for expressing the feelings of the exploited and oppressed people --- the peasants, labourers and other rural folk, as well as the town-based artisans, etc. But, today, some internal as well as external forces are posing a serious danger to our rich folk arts forms. Multinational corporations and electronic media are playing an active role to destroy our folk arts, Bhattacharya said, and asked the people to come forward to keep these folk arts alive.

Praja Natya Mandali president P A Devi announced that from next year onwards cultural melas would be organised in every mandal in the state. K Shanta Rao, leader of the Handloom Weavers’ Association, presided over the meeting that was attended, among others, by veteran artist Vallam Narasimha Rao and Anantha Krishna, a reader in the University of Hyderabad.