People's Democracy

Habib Tanvir�s Demise �

End Of An Era, Says SAHMAT

The following is the text of the statement issued by SAHMAT on June 8, 2009

HABIB Tanvir, the legend of contemporary Indian theatre � who was also a writer, poet, actor, organiser of progressive writers and people�s theatre � passed away on June 8, 2009 at Bhopal. Habib Tanvir, whose plays make him a true citizen of the world will always be remembered for his abiding commitment to the values of secularism and progressive ideas.

For us at SAHMAT, Habib Saheb was an inspiring presence as its founder trustee and its chairman after Bhisham Sahni�s passing away in 2003. His was one of the most militant voices in the spontaneous protest after Safdar Hashmi�s brutal murder in 1989. Habib Tanvir had earlier collaborated with Safdar Hashmi in dramatising Premchand�s story �Mote Ram Ka Satyagraha�. Habib was an important organiser and participant in SAHMAT�s Hum Sab Ayodhya exhibition and the Mukt Naad cultural sit-in in Ayodhya in 1993, after the Babri Masjid demolition.

Habib Tanvir was born on September 1923 at Raipur, Chhattisgarh. After initial education at Nagpur, he went to Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA), London, in 1955 and travelled in Europe during 1956-57. He became the organiser, secretary, playwright and actor-director of Indian People�s Theatre Association (IPTA) during 1948-50.

In 1954 he had directed �Agra Bazar� which he himself described as �the first serious experiment integrating song with drama and rural actors with urban� For the last 55 years �Agra Bazar� has been performed all over the country countless number of times. He founded Naya Theatre in 1958. Habib�s abiding contribution to contemporary culture will be his remarkable incorporation of traditions of folk and tribal theatre, music and language into his modern formal craft. The power of his plays delighted and moved audiences cutting across all class boundaries from the man on the street to the powerful elite.

During the last two decades Habib Tanvir had through his plays invited the ire of the Sangh Parivar and the reactionary forces for firmly standing against fundamentalism and obscurantism through plays like �Ponga Pandit�, � Zamadarin�.

Habib Tanvir will be missed by progressive artists all over the country. His passing marks the end of an era.

To Nagin and the artists of Naya Theatre we convey our heart-felt condolences.