By Yanis Iqbal
Reminiscing Safdar Hashmi
The democratic structure of India is being weakened. Attempts are being made to obliterate freedom. In these cataclysmic times, it is imperative that we remember the lost legacy of Safdar Hashmi who possessed the unflinching determination to unfetter India
Safdar Hashmi and Street Theatre
Safdar Hashmi was a left-wing street theatre activist, playwright and the co- founder of Janam (Jan Natya Manch or People’s Theatre). From the very beginning of his life, Safdar Hashmi was politically vibrant. While he was studying English at St Stephen’s college, he became an activist of SFI (Student’s Federation of India). Later on, he also joined CPI (M) and in 1986, he became a member of the Committee for Communal Harmony. Safdar Hashmi was extremely efficient in organizational tasks and worked frenetically to disseminate the message of secularism. His progressive perspective managed to amalgamate secularism with Marxian values and this distinctive viewpoint was reflected in the plays made by Janam.
Janam came up in 1973 and it identified itself closely with the leftist movement which was going in the 1970s. This meant that it focused on the plight of the working class and sought to strengthen the unity of the subaltern classes. Apart from amplifying the voice of the working class, Janam also expressed its larger anti-establishment perspective and highlighted the dictatorial tendencies of the rulers. For example, it performed a short skit called Kursi, Kursi, Kursi (Chair, Chair, Chair) which lampoons Indira Gandhi’s refusal to resign in spite of the High Court Judgment telling her to do so. Another play like this was the one named Janata Pagal Ho Gayi Hai (The Public has Gone Mad) which satirically criticizes Indira Gandhi. Along with these plays, Janam also produced some exceptional street theatre pieces, specifically displaying the predicament of working class, like Aurat (1979) and Machine (1978). These plays used a unique combination of theatre aesthetics which was simplified and at the same time, was not thematically shallow.
Throughout the existence of theatre in India, there was a certain tension between proscenium theatre and street theatre. It was this stress between two different kinds of theatre practices that Safdar Hashmi wished to resolve. Like many other street theatre theorists, Safdar Hashmi too argued that proscenium theatre excluded the common people and said that there was a natural need for an alternative theatre which could provide easy access to the oppressed masses. But some have said that street theatre is aesthetically inferior to proscenium theatre and is mainly an agitprop theatre (propagandist theatre). In response to this deficiency, Safdar Hashmi generated a street theatre which was aestheticized and politically progressive. He used techniques such as the use of songs to give an artistic edge to street theatre. Safdar Hashmi was devising new dramaturgic devices for the common people and was gaining partial success in politicizing the oppressed masses. He had constructed a new democratic life which provided the taste of democracy to everyone. Because of this, he had to be eliminated.
The Death of Safdar Hashmi
On January 1, 1989, Safdar Hashmi and the other members of Janam went to Jhandapur – a village located in the industrial area of Sahibabad – to perform their play, Halla Bol. Halla Bol was a play which was written amid the November 1988 worker’s strike in Delhi. It encapsulated the militant mood of the workers and exhorted them to rise against the tyranny of capitalism. In Jhandapur, Janam was not able to finish this play because it was suddenly interrupted by some Congress-sponsored goons. These button men of Congress were armed with iron rods and managed to barbarically kill Safdar Hashmi and another worker, identified as Ram Bahadur. Sudhanva Deshpande, the biographer of Safdar Hashmi, notes that even in the chaotic atmosphere of utter terror during the violent confrontation with the goons, Safdar Hashmi ensured that the members of Janam had enough time to escape.
Safdar Hashmi had chosen to dedicate his life in freeing India from the ruling elites. He adopted oppositional drama as a way of challenging the economic hierarchies. His radical experimental endeavors resonated among the working class and this presented a potential threat to the structure of inequality and illiberalism which the capitalists don’t want to change. In contemporary times when freedom is again being caged and mutinous voices are being squelched, we need individuals like Safdar Hashmi who valiantly rebel against injustice.
About the Author:
Yanis Iqbal is a freelance writer based in Aligarh and writes analytical pieces on current affairs.