People's Democracy

 Artistes Condemn Attacks On Habib Tanvir

More than five dozen eminent artistes and intellectuals of the country have, in a statement issued from New Delhi on October 9, 2003, condemned the attacks on noted playwright, actor, and director Habib Tanvir’s plays by Sangh Parivar hoodlums. The statement is being published below.  

OVER the years, Habib Tanvir’s plays have brought together a robust rural voice and a modern worldview. It is not often that we have the gift of an artist who selects the best of our traditional heritage and puts it to use to take on our modern cultural needs, problems, and questions. And Habib Tanvir has arrived at his point through years of learning and honing his craft. From the early Agra Bazaar to the renowned Mitti Ki Gaadi, the plays by Habib Tanvir and his Naya Theatre have celebrated the language, homour, songs and stories of the Chhattisgarhi peasants and tribals. To the resulting vitality, has been added a unique modern Indian perspective. This means Tanvir’s India is not romanticised, or parochial, or bigoted, or complacent, or satisfied with easy answers and labels.

It seems only a natural and logical response to admire and learn from such an artist. Indeed, this has been the response to the Naya Theatre plays, not just in cities in India and elsewhere, but in the rural India they draw their inspiration and energy from. But as if to illustrate that the bigotry the plays meet head-on is only too real, Habib Tanvir and his actors are now attack. It the last few months, the cultural goons of the RSS-VHP-Bajrang Dal-BJP ilk have displayed their love for living Indian culture by throwing rotten eggs and chairs on the stage; by slogan shouting during performances; by cutting power supply to the auditorium; by forcing audiences into leaving or performances into being cancelled. Given their passionate interest in culture, the attackers have not even seen the plays they are attacking. Even worse is the implication that “Muslim artists” should only portray and criticize the “Muslims” thread of our complex social fabric.

We, as artistes, writers and fellow citizens, must take on Habib Tanvir’s attackers in our work, on the stage, in the media, and on the streets. And we must do this in a voice as bold and powerful as that of Habib Tanvir’s plays.

The signatories include Vijay Tendulkar, Githa Hariharan, Shamshad Hussain, Rajendra Yadav, Khushwant Singh, Vivan Sundaram, Ram Rahman, Kamaleshwar, Krishna Sobti, Nandita Das, M K Raina and Rajinder Nath, among others.