SAHMAT Condemns Threat to Artiste

THROUGH a press statement issued from New Delhi on June 9, 2014, the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT) strongly condemned the threat issued to renowned singer Shubha Mudgal in California. There, a pro-Modi supporter of Hindutva threatened Mudgal at a concert, for her vocal and public opposition to the Hindutva forces.

Khwaja Ahmed Abbas Centenary Celebration

KHWAJA Ahmed Abbas, a multi- faceted personality who was engaged in several important ventures is an important legendary figure in the world cinema and literature. Abbas was integral to Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA) and Progressive Writers’ Association (PWA).

A Truly Phenomenal Woman

DR MAYA Angelou, the celebrated poet, writer, singer, and actress died at her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in the United States on May 28, 2014. She was 86. The literary giant, most known for her autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and Phenomenal Woman, a collection of poems, was one of the foremost African-American writers and thinkers of our times and one of the first black women in the United States to enjoy mainstream literary success.

Gabriel García Márquez: Living to Tell the Tale

TEN days after his discharge from a hospital in Mexico City, Gabriel García Márquez, one of the greatest writers of our times, died on April 17, 2014 at the age of 87. Author of classic works such as One Hundred Years of Solitude, Love in the Times of Cholera, No One Writes to the Colonel, The Autumn of the Patriarch and Chronicle of a Death Foretold, he created the eternal and marvelous Macondo which, in the imagination of millions of his readers, became synonymous with Latin America.

Artists Need to Unite against Communal Fascism

THE Janvadi Lekhak Sangh (JLS) held its eighth national conference at Allahabad, on February 14 and 15, with the message that it would do all it can to unite the writers, artists and other cultural workers with the broad democratic movement in order to meet the growing threat of communal fascism in the country. On the first day of the conference, a Meet on Composite Culture was held in an effort to bring on to one platform various groups of democratic minded writers and cultural workers as well as independent writers and other intellectuals against the communal threat.

On the Withdrawal of Wendy Doniger’s book

The following is the statement issued by eminent scholars, academicians, intellectuals on February 15 on the ban on Wendy Doniger’s book

SAFDAR HASHMI KALAI KUZHU: 25 Years on Stage in Pondicherry

ONE stage, two mikes, three instruments, four voices and thousands of the audience --- this was the scene on the Beach Road near Gandhi statue in Pondicherry on January 1, 2014. The members of the troupe were filled with energy during the whole day of the programme. The songs which they sang were thought provoking and graphically described the social evils such as poverty, untouchability and inequality etc. The programme lasted for 12 hours; it continued from 9 a m to 9 p m. This was the fourth successive and successful, 12 hour programme by the team.

Tributes to a Revolutionary Dreamer

ON a crisp sunny day as the world ushered in the first day of 2014, the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT) organised a day long festival to remember the 25 years of Safdar Hashmi’s martyrdom. The Constitution Club Annexe was the venue of this memorable and important political and social event. The extravaganza like shows had artists from varied walks of life coming together on a common platform to remember an exceptional person whose life was cruelly cut short by those who were not comfortable with Safdar’s outspoken, non-conformist and radical methods.

Safdar’s Red-hot Life

THE site of Safdar Hashmi’s killing is Jhandapur, a small settlement in the heart of the sprawling Site IV Industrial Area in Sahibabad on the outskirts of Delhi. Over the past decade or so, however, several factories and industrial units in the area have closed down, giving way to malls, cineplexes, hotels, office complexes, luxury car showrooms, educational institutions, and so on. The nearby interstate bus terminal, a new railway station and the Delhi metro have all contributed to this process and accelerated it.

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