Members of an outfit linked to the right-wing group had opposed two plays — Jaat Hi Poochho Sadhu Ki and Besharam Mev Jaate
Zafar Aafaq | Clarion India
NEW DELHI — The Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA) has cancelled the five-day theatre festival in Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh, it was reported on Sunday.
Bajrang Dal is said to have forced this cancellation, although IPTA is citing Covid-19 as the reason.
Reports said that the members of an outfilt linked to Bajrang Dal had opposed two plays — Jaat Hi Poochho Sadhu Ki and Besharam Mev Jaate — that were scheduled to be staged at the festival.
According to the Indian Express, the right-wing group wrote to the Sub-Divisional Magistrate saying that the content of the plays has angered the entire fraternity of “culture and religious lovers.”
Jaat Hi Poochho Sadhu Ki is the Hindi translation of a Marathi play which has been penned by Padma awardee Vijay Tendulkar and previously performed in Madhya Pradesh.
The extremist group threatened of “furious protests” if their demand for stopping the festival were not met.
Davendra Khushwa, IPTA’s district secretary in Chhatrapur, told the Express that he got a call from a man some days back who asked about the line-up and objected to the two plays.
The IPTA has alleged that the police did not assure them and instead were told to negotiate with those who opposed the plays. But the police, according to the Express report, dismissed the allegation saying the organisers cancelled the show on their own. The IPTA had also approached SDM to ask police to provide protection for the festival, the report says.
Bajrang Dal district in-charge Surendra Shivharay was quoted as saying, “We will continue to protest such programmes in the future too and if they are not stopped, we have our own system to handle it.”
