Komita Dhanda
HUNDREDS of local residents, including women, men, and children, braved the freezing weather on January 1st this year to assemble at Ambedkar Park in Jhandapur to remember Safdar Hashmi on his 35th martyrdom day programme. Over the years, Safdar has become a symbol of resistance and courage not just within the cultural movement and larger artist community but also for all those who truly believe in an egalitarian, democratic, and oppression-free society.
On January 1, 1989, when Jana Natya Manch (Janam) was performing a few kilometres outside of Delhi in Site IV Industrial Area, Ghaziabad, its play Halla Bol was violently interrupted by local hoodlums backed by the then in power Congress party. One of Janam’s founding members and convenor Safdar Hashmi was viciously beaten up during that unexpected attack. Ram Bahadur, a migrant worker watching the play at the time was shot dead on the spot. The next day, on January 2, Safdar succumbed to his wounds in a hospital.
On January 3, the roads of central Delhi witnessed a sea of thousands of aggrieved people – artists, workers, trade unionists, students, government employees, doctors, lawyers, political party leaders, and ordinary citizens from all walks of life – who came to attend Safdar’s funeral procession. In a remarkable moment of resilience, on the morning of January 4, Janam led by Moloyashree Hashmi returned to the site of the killing to complete the interrupted play. Since then, every year on January 1, Janam and the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) co-organise Safdar Hashmi Shahadat Divas – Mazdooron aur Kalakaron Ka Saajha Karyakram. Every year on this day, various different theatre groups around the country also perform cultural activities to reinforce the unity of workers and artists. Safdar’s killing marked a watershed moment in the history of the people’s cultural movement, thereafter inspiring thousands of cultural and political activists across the country.
At the beginning of the 35th Safdar Hashmi Shahadat Divas programme, Komita, a member of Janam, briefly described the 1989 incident and spoke about the significance of this day in the current national and international political landscape. Subsequently, Janam members sang “Lal jhanda lekar, comrade, aage badhte jayenge", “Halla bol bhai halla bol”, and “Hum sab is jahan mein”. Although the audience was originally small because of the cold, the venue promptly filled up as the programme began.
After the songs, Janam performed its latest play, Kabhi Na Khatam Hota Kaam (The Work Never Ends). Directed by well-known Delhi-based theatre artist Mallika Taneja and co-written by Komita and Brijesh, Janam’s new play talks about different categories of working-class women – piece rate workers, ASHA, anganwadi, mid-day meal workers, and factory workers – and their struggles and defiance against oppression. The play script is based on thorough research and interviews done with various women workers. Through its dramatic structure and highly visualised scenes interspersed with songs, the play insists on asking questions about the economic and social subjugation of women.
One of the special highlights this year was the performance by Majma, a Delhi-based singing group that sings songs of resistance and hope. The group presented a collection of songs written by Gorakh Pandey, Kabir, and other poets. The audience, which included a substantial number of migrants from eastern Uttar Pradesh, thoroughly enjoyed Majma’s self-composed Bhojpuri songs.
Expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people Brijesh from Janam recited Wo Philisteeni Ladka, a poem by Somalian poet Safi Abdi.
This year, Ashok Dhawale, president of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) and CPI(M) Polit Bureau member, was the main speaker at the public meeting in Jhandapur. Local CITU leader G S Tiwari also addressed the audience.
Dhawale recalled his initial meetings with Safdar in the SFI-Delhi office in the early 1970s. He recalled Safdar’s significant contributions to the street theatre movement and the larger Left cultural movement in India. Dhawale emphasized that we must remember Safdar as a communist artist who fought for the rights of working-class people and participated in struggles against oppression, injustice, and inequality. He recognised the fact that despite the personal and organisational losses caused by his murder, Janam, together with its older and new members, has continued its work as a cultural organisation.
Dhawale’s rousing speech addressed a wide range of issues. Citing a recent incident of gang rape of a girl by BJP IT cell members at Banaras Hindu University, the women wrestlers’ case, the Manipur incident, and other such cases, he questioned the blatant stance of the BJP government against women and gender justice. Speaking about the exorbitant price increases for petrol, diesel, and LPG cylinders, he asked whether this is what the term “acche din” (good days) meant.
Comparing the current regime to the British Raj, he stated that this government is employing the same strategies of crushing people’s struggles by imprisoning, killing, or dividing them along religious lines. In the last eight years, he said, many activists have been put in jail without any reasonable charges for raising their voice against the Modi government. Dhawale accused the government for purposefully targeting independent media outlets such as Newsclick for their extensive reporting of countrywide movements led by farmers, workers, and women. Newsclick employees were harassed, and its founder, Prabir Purkaystha, who was also imprisoned during the emergency, was put in jail for bringing out the truth through news reports about issues affecting ordinary people.
He expressed disappointment that, while Israel, with the help of imperialist forces such as the United States, continues to massacre women and children in Palestine, the Indian government has taken no action to demonstrate solidarity and support for the Palestinians.
Dhawale asserted that with the 2024 Lok Sabha elections approaching, we have to come together to combat the BJP government’s policies of benefiting the rich while making ordinary people poorer, as well as its assault on the constitution. Finally, recalling Safdar and Ram Bahadur’s shahadat, he called for united struggles to defeat fascist forces and quoted Faiz Ahmad Faiz’s famous lines:
Yunhi hamesha ulajhti rahi hai zulm se khalq
Na inki rasm nayi, na apni reet nayi
Yunhi hamesha khilaye hain hum ne aag mein phool
Na unki haar nayi hai, na apni jeet nayi
The meeting was followed by a highly energetic street play performed by young members of Janasamskriti. Their play, Sir, I disagree explored the role of disagreement in shaping people’s personal lives and society at large. It talks about why spaces for disagreement and dissent are important to ensure equality, social justice, and freedom of speech and expression.
The programme was concluded with Janam’s performance of Sanjhi re Chadariya. Written by Brijesh and co-directed by Atman and Komita during the summer of 2023, this play is a tapestry of three stories of friendship strung together with the metaphor of a chaadar, highlighting syncretism, coexistence of communities, and multiculturalism in India. The three stories, which are partly fictitious and partly based on actual incidents, illustrate the relationship of two young girls, two workers during Covid times, and two renowned medieval poets, Rahim and Tulsidas. The play has been performed in many working-class colonies and also as part of the Dhai Aakhar Prem Ka national cultural jatha in Alwar in September.
This year, Janam presented a reading performance, Ujle Safed Kabootar, at the programme organised by SAHMAT in solidarity with the Palestinian people. Directed by Sudhanva Deshpande, the performance includes prose and poems on Palestine by Faiz Ahmed Faiz and the Somalian poet Safi Abdi. Translated by Brijesh, the centrepiece of the reading is the poem ‘Under Siege’ by Palestine’s well-known poet, Mahmoud Darwish. Accompanied by a visual essay by Sherna Dastur, the performance illustrates how war affects everyday life and the basic human values of love, dignity, and self-respect.
Every year, on January 2, Janam members gather in an intimate meeting to remember Safdar and draw inspiration from his life and work. Conducted by Priyanka, this year for the Safdar ki Yaad Mein meeting, Janam invited Murlidharan Vishwanath as the main speaker. Murlidharan, the general secretary of the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled and a long-time CPI(M) member, spoke about his interactions with Safdar in Ahmedabad and subsequently in Delhi in the 1980s. Murlidharan shared his memories of accompanying Janam and witnessing the attack on January 1, 1989. From Janam, Purbasha spoke about what it means to know Safdar and his ideas. This year, in a letter reading session curated by Moloyashree, a few letters written by Safdar in his lifetime and some condolence messages sent to Janam and his family following his death were also read.
On January 3, while paying tribute to Safdar, the great progressive poet and lyricist Shankar Shailendra’s birth centenary was commemorated by reading poetry and singing his songs.
Whereas the ruling classes and the communal forces continue to promote the darkness of ignorance, hatred, and communalism in countless ways, numerous lamps of wisdom, love, and brotherhood are also being lit. It is in this context that every year Janam and CITU remember the sacrifice made by Safdar Hashmi and take inspiration from his belief that arts and politics are inherently connected.
