)
On the heels of the withdrawal of Wendy Doniger's The Hindus: An Alternative History by Penguin and the violence unleashed by some elements at a press conference by a Pakistani band in Mumbai comes what seems another blow on the right to freedom of speech and expression. On Wednesday evening, Ali J, a play performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last year, wasn't allowed to be staged in the well-known Jagriti Theatre here
Last month, organisers of the prestigious Kala Ghoda festival in Mumbai had succumbed to demands of Right-wing elements and cancelled the staging of the same play.
"One hour before the show, the permissions we had obtained were revoked. At 8 pm, when the show was to start, 10 policemen came to stop the play. When we called the assistant commissioner of police, he said the orders had come from the Vidhana Soudha (the state legislature) and the staging of the play wouldn't be allowed," said Karthik Kumar.
Kumar, co-founder of Evam, the Chennai-based group staging the play, also plays the title character, a convict on death row for his involvement in the Godhra riots. The lead character's life shadows that of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan.
Jagriti founder Jagdeesh Raja said, "The home ministry has said for our safety, we shouldn't do something that could trigger a political problem because of the coming elections. The Vidhana Soudha, therefore, instructed the police to urge us not to perform, and we are doing so…It's all very well to say freedom of speech and voices should be heard but we are looking at situations in which the audience, our own staff and the equipment are likely to be at risk. We can't afford to do anything that might trigger sentiments that give rise to such a response."
The police, however, denied any such instruction from the home ministry, saying such permission wasn't required, as this was an indoor event. "Nobody has given permission, as they are saying, and nobody has told them not to do it. We said we would give them protection and the officers even agreed to see the play," said Assistant Commissioner of Police (law and order) Kamal Pant. He added he understood the performance didn't take place because the tehsildar did not give the permission sought by the group, as ahead of the elections, the code of conduct was in place.
The situation is replete with ironies. The police had, at the end of January, provided security for the play to be staged at Ranga Shankara in Bangalore, when the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti had issued threats against it. This time, Jagriti's Raja admits no such threats were received.
Ali J's fate was similar in Chennai, where after security was promised, a letter from the commissioner's officer 24 hours before the show said it was advised the staging be cancelled. Kumar said when Evam members went to the venue, the organisers said they had been told by the police not to allow the performance. The grounds stated by the police, he said, were retaining "the peace and harmony in the pre-election phase".
In November 2013, the play received a standing ovation at the NCPA Centre Stage festival in Mumbai.
As a mark of protest against Wednesday's sequence of events, Evam plans to upload a webcast of the play, as it had done after the Kala Ghoda staging was cancelled. "We realise we are fighting something powerful and significant. There is something very fascist and Talibanesque on the ground," Kumar says. The group is also considering moving court so that the play is allowed to be staged. It hopes this will set a precedent for similar cases.
In what completes the list of ironies in the tale, a Pakistani cultural organisation has requested the play be staged in that country, as a gesture of peace. "I find that ironical at many levels - Pakistan will allow it and India won't," Kumar says.
