People's Democracy

All India Meeting of People’s Theatre Activists

For the past few years, people’s theatre activists from all over India have felt the need to come together, share their experiences, reflect on political and theoretical issues which confront them, discuss the changes in the larger cultural scenario of the country, and work out strategies to counter the challenges of communalism and globalisation that face us. As part of this process, the sixth all India meeting of People’s Theatre Activists was held in Eluru, Andhra Pradesh, from August 29-31, 2006.

This process began in Delhi when Jana Natya Manch organised the first such meeting in 1998. In that meeting several groups and organisations came together and since it was the first meeting of the kind it was essentially devoted to getting acquainted with each other’s work. After a gap, the second meeting was also held in Delhi in 2002. This meeting focused on questions of communalism and globalisation, as they impacted on the cultural sphere. Since the carnage in Gujarat was on at that time, naturally that formed the immediate political context of the meeting and much of the discussion was centered on the question of what was happening in Gujarat and trying to understand the larger cultural and political factors that went into the Sangh parivar strategy there.

In the Delhi meeting no discussion was possible on the organisational issues that different cultural groups and organisations face in their day-to-day activity. The focus of the next meeting organised by Praja Natya Mandali, Andhra Pradesh in November 2002 in Hyderabad was on organization. In Hyderabad various groups and organisations reported on the organisational issues that they face. Some groups are very small with effective membership of barely a dozen or so while some organisations are very large with units in several cities. For instance Praja Natya Mandali has over 1,000 units all over Andhra Pradesh with a membership of over 25,000 while Indian People’s Theatre Association, West Bengal has over 350 units. Thus there is an entire gamut of organisational issues which different groups and organisations face across the country and the conditions of work are also varied.

In the Hyderabad meeting it was decided to set up informal regional working groups to help various groups and organisations coordinate their activities and help each other. However it must be understood that this effort does not represent an effort to form any kind of all-India organisation or association. The nature of the meetings has always been as a kind of open platform where like-minded people’s theatre activists can come together and learn from each other. It is quite clear to all participants that given the enormous variation in the nature, scope, extent and areas of work of the different organisations it is neither possible nor desirable to impose any kind of all-India network from above.

The next meeting was held in Guwahati in June 2003 and was hosted by IPTA, Assam. The focus of this meeting was on questions of aesthetics and politics. Papers were presented by some participants on this question which was followed by in-depth discussion. There was also another session on organisation wherein some participants presented the experiences of their organisations in expanding their work, reaching out to new sections, facing organisational problems and so on. This too was followed by detailed discussion. There was also reporting on the progress made and the difficulties faced by the regional working groups. It was decided that the following meeting would be hosted by Prerna (a constituent of Janwadi Sanskritik Morcha, Bihar) in Patna and would focus on the question of ‘Caste and Culture’.

The Patna meeting in February 2004 was inaugurated by noted historian R.S. Sharma who began by reflecting on the meaning of the word Sanskriti. He made a fervent plea to the assembled cultural activists to fight relentlessly against caste as well as commercialisation. This was followed by a lucid and thought-provoking presentation on the question of ‘Caste and Culture’ by the well-known Hindi critic Murli Manohar Prasad Singh. This wide-ranging presentation was followed by group discussions in which participants shared their experiences of working on questions of caste in their respective regions. Many participants felt that while the Left has focused, quite rightly, on questions of class, we have often tended to ignore questions of caste. In the cultural sphere in particular if our movement is to reach out to dalits and other oppressed sections we have to engage with this question in our artistic presentations. The second day of the meeting was devoted to the various groups/organisations reporting on their work and activities.

The sixth all India meeting of People’s Theatre Activists was inaugurated by Subhashini Ali, president, AIDWA. She spoke on ‘The Impact of Imperialist Cultural Values on the Social Fabric’. She spoke about how imperialist culture keeps people away from being an organic part of the movement. While it is true that modern thinking will help bring about a certain change in attitudes, it is an illusion to believe that revolutionary economic changes will directly lead to progressive thinking. MNCs do not bring modernisation. In fact, in globalisation, every single tool of exploitation will be utilised. So we see now an increase in obscurantism and casteism. When it is necessary to keep wages low, anti-dalit feelings play an important role. She elaborated on how patriarchy operates in the current times. The MNCs through the media are not only selling branded commodities but also selling the notion of empowerment. Through NGOs it is trying to implement a so-called ‘alternate’ process of development. She also elaborated on the changed forms of the practice of dowry which has now spread perniciously. She detailed through a series of examples the role of the imperialist media in effecting a change in the attitudes and norms of behaviour vis-à-vis identity politics, falling sex ratio, homogenising cultures and increased violence.

Subhashini Ali laid great stress on the role of artists as great art can say many things which will be accepted by the people. Art is a powerful weapon in the battle of people’s minds. In this context she referred eloquently to Ritwik Ghatak’s On the Cultural Front. She concluded by saying that imperialism has many tools, but its basic weakness is that it cannot hide its ugly face of exploitation, it cannot satisfy the aspirations of the people. The lecture was followed by a lively discussion. 

The second part of the meeting was on the question of training: how we train ourselves creatively, politically, organisationally within our groups? How do we create a new line of leadership? Each group spoke about their experiences. 

The public meeting on culture held on August 29 was very well attended by the artists and intellectuals of Eluru. The programme was preceded by a cultural rally through the town led by the dappu dancers of Praja Natya Mandali. Many of the participating groups presented songs which were followed by short speeches by Moloyashree Hashmi of Jana Natya Manch, Surendra Rao of Samudaya and Naresh of Haryana Gyan Vigyan Samiti. The public programme concluded with vibrant dance drama presentations by Kerala’s Purogamana Kala Sahithya Sangham and Praja Natya Mandali.

There were thirty-one delegates representing fourteen groups and organisations from nine states. Devi of Praja Natya Mandali gave the welcome address. The presidium comprised of Surendra Rao of Samudaya, Karnataka, Naresh of Haryana Gyan Vigyan Samiyi, Premaprasad of Purogamana Kala Sahitya Sangha, Kerala, and Keshab Acharia of Jagar, Mumbai, and Jaggaraju of Praja Natya Mandali. The credential report was presented by Ashok of Jana Natya Manch, Delhi. 

The meeting gave a call to celebrate the birth centenary of Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad with a series of events across the country. The young revolutionaries of their time – Rajguru, Sukhdev, Ashfaqulla, Surya Sen and their comrades are heroes of the greatest anti-imperialist struggles of the twentieth century. Today the world is faced with a greater imperialist offensive than ever before. At such a time it is imperative that we recall and celebrate our anti-imperialist heritage so that the struggles of today are lit by the fire of history. 

The next all India meeting to be held next year will be hosted by IPTA, West Bengal and coordinated by Jana Natya Manch.

The Vijaywada unit of the Praja Natya Mandali had organised three programmes on the occasion of this meeting. There was a meeting with film producers and distributors on the issue of censorship. The gathering was addressed by N.K. Sharma of Act One and Sudhanva of Jana Natya Manch. The undergraduate students of City Montessori College were addressed by Moloyashree Hashmi on the topic of ‘The Role of Women in the Current Era of Globalisation’. The public seminar in the evening on the theme of contemporary theatre was very well-attended by a wide range of artists, theatre persons and cultural workers. Sudhanva initiated the seminar with a very comprehensive talk on the present day theatre scenario and the importance of regional theatre. N K Sharma spoke pithily on the experiments in theatre. Moloyashree Hashmi spoke on people’s theatre.