People's Democracy

Artiste Dedicated to the Working Class

Sudhanva Deshpande

IT is 20 years since Safdar Hashmi was killed. Since 1989, when the attack on Jana Natya Manch (Janam) took place while performing Halla Bol in support of the working class at Jhandapur in Ghaziabad, the first day of the year has become a special day for the democratic movement. On this day, every year, Janam has performed at the site of the attack. Over the years, a large number of other performers, artistes, writers and poets have taken their art to Jhandapur on January 1 and expressed their solidarity with the working class.

The twentieth anniversary of the attack was observed with a fortnight-long programme. The programme was kicked off on December 20, in Ghaziabad with plays by the students of St. Mary's School, performed in four schools, two each in Nandgram and Arthala. There were four plays: one on casteism, one on farmers' suicides, one on terrorism and our apathy, and one on the need for a conscious citizenry. Of these, the play on casteism was particularly striking � it was a hilarious take-off on the Hindi film Sholay, with casteism being responsible for Gabbar Singh becoming a dacoit. All the four plays were greeted very warmly by students and staff of the Ghaziabad schools, and the children of St. Mary's were presented with mementoes.

The following day, December 21, four street play teams from Delhi University colleges performed at various spots in Ghaziabad. The team from Kirori Mal College performed in Nandgram, Hansraj College performed in Vijay Nagar, Shri Ram College of Commerce performed in Arthala, and Lady Shriram College performed in Site IV (of which Jhandapur is a part). The teams did 15 performances in all, and in the end congregated at the Safdar Hashmi Smarak Sthal (Memorial) where they interacted with CITU comrades and others. Generally, street play teams from Delhi University get to perform only at the various college festivals and competitions, so this was a new and unique opportunity for them to perform in front of working class audiences. They loved it, and so did their audiences. Between December 22-26, Janam did its own play, Yeh Hum Kyon Sahein, at various places in Ghaziabad.

The following two days, December 27 and 28, there was a creativity workshop for children at the Safdar Hashmi Smarak Sthal. Some Janam members, along with a number of school teachers, organised a number of activities in which hundreds of local children from Jhandapur took part for two days. Thus, at one place, some children learnt songs, while others were treated to a story using puppets and masks. Children learnt to make hanging mobiles, thread painting, creating textures by rubbing on different surfaces, paper cutouts, creating images by block printing, and making things with clay. In the end, all the children painted murals on the walls of the Smarak Sthal. The children took home with them whatever they created at the workshop.

On December 29, a musical evening was organised at Dr Ambedkar Park in Jhandapur. This featured ragini singing by Ratan Gambhir from Bulandshahr and qawwali singing by Aslam Bazmi and party from Loni. This was hugely enjoyed by the audience, particularly the ragini that lampooned Advani. On the following evening, audiences at Karkari, which is right next door to Jhandapur, were treated to a feast of Bhojpuri birha by Surinder Bairagi and party, and Rajender Yadav and party from Buksar. The former had written a new composition, which told of the life of Safdar Hashmi. The latter sang songs that depicted the experience of the working class and their struggles. This programme, which started at 6.00 in the evening, finally wound up at 2.00 a.m., because the audience kept asking for more. Both these excellent performers performed again on the morning of January 1, as the audience was streaming in to the venue.

January 1 dawned bitterly cold and foggy. As Janam and CITU volunteers reached the venue to set it up at seven o�clock in the morning, it was hard to see beyond about five meters. It stayed cold and foggy till about noon, and it wasn't clear how many people would turn up for the programme. However, as the time for the programme approached, Dr Ambedkar Park started filling up, and by the time the public meeting began, there was barely any place to even stand. The main speaker at the public meeting was Mohd Amin, all-India general secretary, CITU. He had been led into Ghaziabad by an escort of fifty motorcylces decorated with red flags. He began by paying tribute to Safdar Hashmi, a partisan artiste, who dedicated his art and creativity to the struggle of the working class. He then outlined the challenges faced by the working class today. He explained the rationale behind the Left's support to the UPA government, and the reason behind the subsequent withdrawal of support. He pointed out that it is wrong to think that the nuclear deal is done and clinched, so the struggle on that front is over � what the nuclear deal signalled is a larger political and strategic tie-up with the United States, and that is something we need to be vigilant about all the time. He also underlined the responsibility of the working class in fighting the twin dangers of communalism and terrorism. The other speakers at the meeting included Mohan Lal, Brahmjit Singh and Upendra Jha.

After a song in memory of Safdar, Janam presented its street play, Yeh Hum Kyun Sahein. This play uses very moving testimonies of workers recorded by Janam actors, in which workers explain the conditions in which they have to work. These testimonies alternate with two hilarious scenes, in which we see a �god-fearing� Lalaji and his ultramodern son, who both boast about their piety and about their wealth, but who turn out to be miserly when it comes to giving the workers what is actually their right by law.

Janam's performance was followed by Janam Kurukshetra's dramatised performance of a Mangalesh Dabral poem, Keshav Anuragi, about a dalit singer. This was then followed by readings by a number of poets: Mahendra Beniwal, Bali Singh, Madan Kashyap, Vimal Kumar, Ramkumar Krishak and Uday Prakash. The poetry was interspersed by singing. Ashish Ghosh, with Kamaljit on the tabla, sang several of Safdar's children's songs, while Purushottam sang Nazir Akbarabadi. The evening was enlivened by Anil Mishra and his associates, who sang Kabir. Their Kabir was not sung in the traditional way, however. Mishra sang Kabir in a wonderful fusion of folk and rock. The audience, many of whom were from eastern UP and Bihar, would not allow Mishra to stop, asking for encore after encore.

Safdar had died on the night of January 2, and Janam always observes that day with a small and intimate meeting in his memory. Science activist Amit Sengupta, who knew Janam and Safdar intimately in the late 1970s and later, shared his memories of the times. Moloyashree Hashmi paid tribute to Rakesh Saksena, a founder member of Janam (and co-writer of plays such as Machine and Aurat), who died recently, and recalled the early days of Janam's street theatre work. Younger members of Janam, Joyoti and Chirag, who both didn't actually work with Safdar, shared what Safdar has meant to them. The following evening, Janam read poetry in memory of Safdar. The theme this year was citizenship, and the poetry was selected by Kopal.