People's Democracy

 JLS Conference Witnesses Largest Participation Of Writers

JANWADI LEKHAK SANGH (JLS), an all-India association of Hindi and Urdu writers, concluded its three-day sixth national conference on September 14, at the Bharatiya Nritya Kala Mandir, Patna. The conference, that turned out to be a grand success, was attended by a large number of delegates from different states and representatives of fraternal associations from non-Hindi regions.

The conference started with a huge procession against the communal and fascist forces led by the RSS-VHP goons that are attacking secular cultural workers such as Habib Tanveer’s troupe in Madhya Pradesh. A large number of writers, artists and local cultural activists assembled near the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Gandhi Maidan and marched through the streets of Patna before reaching the conference venue at Bharatiya Nritya Kala Mandir near Doordarshan Kendra. The procession was led by Habib Tanveer, the chief guest, and by the office bearers of the JLS central executive like Dr Shivkumar Mishra, Chanchal Chauhan, M M P Singh, Professor Ramesh Kuntal Megh, Professor O P Grewal, Rajesh Joshi, Arun Maheshwari, Sarla Maheshwari, Neeraj Singh, Namita Singh, and prominent writers such as Khagendra Thakur, Ajay Tiwari, Ramprakash Tripathi, Arun Kamal, Alok Dhanva, Purnendu Mukhopadhyay and members of the Prerna Troupe of Bihar.

The inaugural session of the conference began in the evening on September 12. First the Prerna Troupe presented the songs of Kabir and then Professor R S Sharma, a historian of international repute, delivered his speech as the chairperson of the reception committee, advising the writers to portray the conditions of the downtrodden and fight against the cancer of communalism that is penetrating deep among the masses. He referred to a survey undertaken by The Times of India that showed an increase in the number of people supporting communal ideas. He also said the Dalit writers must help the society in this campaign of common people.

In his inaugural speech, Gurdayal Singh, a Gyanpeeth Award winning novelist of Punjabi, narrated his own story, his struggles in life and his experiences of social life. He rose from the status of a poor carpenter to the post of a university professor. Thus he had a wide range of experiences that enriched his works of fiction. He also spoke about the condition of people in Punjab in particular and India in general, and asked writers to depict the problems of the common people. The young people are unemployed and peasants are committing suicide, he said. In his view, any meaningful literary work will have to depict these conditions of people and arouse them to struggle against the system that makes their life miserable. Quoting a couplet from Guru Nanak’s works, he said human life is just like a diamond and should not be wasted like a cowrie. A writer will have to use his pen to fight against the present system that is based on inequality and exploitation.

Habib Tanveer, the chief guest of the conference, narrated his experiences and said his theatre is a nucleus of illiterate theatre workers. They might be unschooled, but they are not uncultured. He was hinting at the uncultured communal fascists who are, under the guidance of RSS and VHP goons, attacking his theatre. He referred to the problem of communal fascism in India and said the problem, that was acute during the days of the country’s partition, it re-emerged and took serious turn after the demolition of the Babri Masjid and reached its climax in the genocide of Muslim community in Gujarat. New elements were added to communal violence in Gujarat as police and administration also indulged in the carnage, and tribal and Dalit strata of society were also used. The so-called Gaurav Yatra and the BJP’s election victory has boosted the morale of the communal fascists in Gujarat. But the positive aspect of Indian culture is still there, as the impact of Gujarat incidents was not seen elsewhere in the secular society of India.

Among the fraternal delegates, Khagendra Thakur of Pragatisheel Lekhak Sangh, Ramji Ray of Janshakti Manch and Selyam of Tamilnadu Progressive Writers Association and Karnail Singh Nijior suggested the ways and means to fight, as writers, the menace of communal fascism. Prominent among the speakers at the seminar were Karmendu Shishir, Arun Kamal, Rajesh Joshi, Alok Dhanva, Madan Kashyap, Hridayesh Mayank, Ajay Tiwari, Namita Singh, Shaival, Prem Krishna Sharma, Sarla Maheshwari, Shambhunath, Shubha, Rajendra Prasad Singh, Kantimohan and Ajay Kumar. Shekhar Joshi, Ramanika Gupta and Zubair Rizvi spoke from the presidium and O P Grewal concluded the discussion.

A grand Kavi Sammelan cum Mushaira was organised at night. It was presided over by Zubair Rizvi, Ibbar Rabbi, Alok Dhanva and Owais Ahmad Dauran. A number of prominent Hindu and Urdu poets such as Zubair Rizvi, Rajesh Joshi, Arun Kamal, Ramkumar, Shanti Suman, Nachiketa, Madan Kashyap, Owais Ahmad Dauran, Shahanshah Alam, Surendra Snigdh, Hansraj Chaudhari, Kantimohan, Shubha, Kausar Parveen and Ramesh Sharma recited their poems in the first phase of the programme. Later on, all the poets who attended the conference recited their poems. It was successfully conducted by a committee consisting of Dr Rekha Awasthi (convener), Ibbar Rabbi, Alok Dhanva, Rajesh Joshi and Madan Kashyap.

On September 14, the organisational session was held at which the general secretary presented his report and then the delegates presented their views on the report. The general secretary accepted some of the suggestions and assured the delegates that those would be incorporated into the final report, and then the report was adopted. The treasurer presented a report of income and expenditure. A few constitutional amendments were moved and adopted by he conference.

The conference elected a central council consisting of 151 members and an executive of 55 members including its office bearers. Professor Shivkumar Mishra was elected president and Murli Manohar Prasad Singh and Chanchal Chauhan as the general secretaries of the Association. Javrimall Parekh was elected treasurer. Professor Ramesh Kuntal Megh, Professor O P Grewal, Rajendra Yadav, Markandey, Doodhnath Singh, Harish Bhadani, Mudrarakshas, Afaq Ahmad, Kunwarpal Singh and Professor Chandrakala Pandey were elected vice-presidents while Shekar Joshi, Manmohan, Rajesh Joshi, Namita Singh, Nirmala Garg, Neeraj Singh, Arun Maheshwari and Rajendra Saiwal were elected secretaries. Professors Qazi Abdul Sattar, Muhammad Hasan, Shahrayar, Dr Malkhan Singh Sisodia and Inayat Akhtar were nominated as patrons.

The conference adopted a number of resolutions like one against the attacks by communal fascist forces on secular cultural workers and intellectuals, another against saffronisation of educational, cultural and intellectual institutions, a third against atrocities on Dalits, one against atrocities on women, and one against the government’s apathy towards the condition of peasants, tribal people and the poor masses. The conference thanked the Bihar unit of JLS and writers in the state for hosting a conference in which the largest number of delegates had so far participated.