Theatre of the absurd

Once again we cringe as our politicians play to the gallery, elbowing out performers who could appeal to healthier minds. Several performances by Pakistani artists have been cancelled this week, as tensions between India and Pakistan escalated following the death of soldiers at the Line of Control (LoC). Shows by Pakistani theatre groups and Pakistani singers were called off in Delhi, Jaipur and Pune, apparently for security reasons. Meanwhile, all Pakistani players were pulled out of the Hockey India League and quickly sent back home, following protests by the Shiv Sena in Mumbai. The reason cited was pretty much the same for all — it was necessary to protect the safety and security of the audience and the players or performers.
Sure, security is a serious issue. The state is supposed to guarantee our safety, and is supposed to take steps to reduce risk. But why is it that these preventive steps almost always stink of foul appeasement or filthy tricks? Why is the state supposedly in perpetual fear of goons who may disturb law and order, when there are perfectly legal ways of restraining and dealing with troublemakers? Why is mob violence not punished in any way? Security is not a problem when foreign dignitaries visit us and make public appearances, or when we host mega events like the Commonwealth Games. But we cannot guarantee security for cultural activities?
Why is it that we need to ban books, cancel shows, hold back movies, restrain cultural freedom or practically chase artists out of the country in order to make some religious fanatics happy and stop them from beating us up or blowing us away? True to the Indian Constitution, in such matters we have no religious bias — we respond with equal pusillanimity to any threat or mere anticipation of violence, whether from Hindus or Muslims. Run, we say to the startled artist or their audience, run away, run for your life. Here, let me quickly lock up your book or painting or film or stage-show. Don’t worry, nobody will ever see it again. Now run and you’ll be perfectly safe.
We have everything under control.
Not exactly the customary strategy of a powerful, protective, liberal democracy with a functional law and order mechanism. Successive Indian governments watched quietly as Hindutva hooligans attacked M.F. Husain from the mid-1990s and finally forced the nonagenarian artist to flee his homeland and die in exile. He was humiliated, assaulted and forced to apologise for paintings the goons disliked, some of his art was destroyed, his home vandalised, his work removed from art exhibitions. Predictably, the BJP government did nothing to contain this majoritarian muscleflexing. Less predictably, neither did the Congress government. And apparently, the state’s fear of antagonising the minority, i.e. Muslim muscleflexing, necessitates similar cultural trimming and pruning. Like stopping Salman Rushdie from appearing even by videolink at the Jaipur Literary Festival last year.
So why are we surprised that various Pakistani artists were quietly taken off the Bharat Rang Mahotsav scheduled this week? This is the magnificent theatre festival organised by the National School of Drama every year, and it hosts plays from various countries as well as from various regions and languages of India. The illustrious Ajoka Theatre of Lahore, which has performed several times in Delhi and other Indian cities (including shortly after the Mumbai attacks of November 26, 2008, or 26/11), was invited for this festival. But following demonstrations by Hindutva activists, they were not allowed to stage their play Kaun Hai Yeh Gustakh first in Jaipur earlier this week and then in Delhi, where it was supposed to have been staged on January 19. Similarly, Pakistan’s National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa) was to stage Mantorama in Delhi on January 17, when it got cancelled. Both these plays celebrate the centenary of Saadat Hasan Manto, the Indian writer who migrated to Pakistan after Partition, and wrote marvelously about individual freedom and the terrible trap of sectarian politics. Interestingly, Napa had presented excerpts from Mantorama at the stimulating Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival last week. But that was before our leaders and media had gone on a rampage over the LoC incident.
Like Pakistani classical singer Javed Bashir, who had performed in Delhi on January 13, but was not allowed to perform on January 14. Right after that, actor and Pakistani pop singer Ali Zafar was prevented from performing in Pune. Because by then the political landscape had changed, our Opposition parties and the media had gone into overdrive demanding apologies and revenge for the killing and mutilation of two of our soldiers on the border.
The BJP wanted revenge, anything less would prove that we had a “weak government”. The government should apologise for its apathy, they shouted. If the decapitated soldier’s head could not be brought back, thundered Sushma Swaraj, leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, “we should get at least 10 heads from their side!” The government must act instantly, she insisted, and “take revenge for the incident”. Stop all talks, hollered other BJP leaders, and “all cricket and Bollywood diplomacy should stop”.
Delighted to have a juicy story of blood, gore and revenge, our media went into a frenzy of glee, thus further sensationalising an already tricky situation between two hostile nuclear neighbours. So the government too took the easy way out and joined the club of the merry irresponsible. Miserably, each focused on their immediate gain — whether public support or sales revenue — and completely ignored the larger issue of diplomacy and the future of the subcontinent.
Today conflict relations are increasingly sorted out by a combination of soft and hard power. Cultural exchange is that soft power, of which we have a long history. If we are abandoning that path even momentarily, we better know what we are doing.
That we are giving in to provocative comments and irresponsible demands from the rightwing is pathetic. That we are ready to abandon cultural diplomacy while pretending to genuflect to the threat of mob violence should make us wince. For our diplomatic muscleflexing with neighbours must not be determined by the majoritarian muscleflexing within our country. Because majoritarian muscleflexing is not supposed to exist at all in a fine democracy, it is one of our open secrets, one of our terrible embarrassments, it’s our shame. Setting aside laws and rights and giving in to the threat of majoritarian mob violence makes us less free and less of a democracy. And we lose the edge we have over our warring neighbour.

The writer is editor of The Little Magazine. She can be contacted at: sen@littlemag.com [2]