Safdar Hashmi

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Safdar Hashmi ( Hindi सफ़दर हाशमी ; born April 12, 1954 in Delhi , † January 2, 1989 in New Delhi ) was an Indian playwright , theater director and actor . He was one of the most important representatives of left-wing Indian street theater . Until his death, Hashmi had made around 4,000 appearances in 24 different plays.

Life

Safdar Hashmi studied English literature at St. Stephen's College in Delhi and then graduated with an MA in English from Delhi University . During this time in the early 1970s, which was marked by student unrest in India, he joined the Students' Federation of India , a student policy movement of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) . In addition to his studies, he was active in theater productions for the Indian People's Theater Association (IPTA), which is closely related to the CPI (M) . In 1973 he founded the "Jana Natya Manch" (Janam, "Volkstheaterfront") with other theater activists, which dedicated itself to political street theater.

Janam created a public awareness of the shortcomings of political leadership in India. With the play Kursi, Kursi, Kursi they criticized the government of Indira Gandhi in mass performances shortly before the imposition of the state of emergency in India . During the emergency, theater work was nearly impossible and Hashmi worked as a lecturer in English literature in Garhwal , Kashmir and Delhi. From 1978 onwards, Hashmi's troupe had success with the piece Machine , which they performed in front of 200,000 workers at a trade union meeting in November 1978. He was followed by other pieces on migrant workers, unemployment, violence against women and inflation with Gaon Se Shahar Tak , Teen Crore , Aurat and DTC Ki Dhandhli .

In 1979 he married his fellow actor Moloyshree. In the early 1980s he also worked as a journalist for the Press Trust of India and The Economic Times . He sought de-escalation during the anti-Sikh riots following the assassination of Indira Gandhi. In 1987 and 1988, Hashmi held workshops with the author Badal Sircar in the Pakistani cities of Karachi and Lahore . He wrote the proscenium piece Moteram ka Satyagraha with Habib Tanvir in 1988 .

On January 1, 1989, Safdar Hashmi was dragged from the stage by political activists of the Indian National Congress during a performance of the play Halla Bol in Sahibabad , an eastern suburb of Delhi, and subjected to massive violence. He died the next day as a result of his injuries. Two days after his death, Hashmi's wife played the piece to the end in the same location. The perpetrators were convicted of murder only 14 years after the crime.

In February 1989 the author Bhisham Sahni and other artists founded the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT) to promote politically and socially active artists. Hashmi's writings were published posthumously in The Right to Perform: Selected Writings of Safdar Hashmi (1989).

literature

  • The Right to Perform: Selected Writings of Safdar Hashmi. SAHMAT, Delhi 1989.
  • Qamar Azad Hashmi: The Fifth Flame: The Story of Safdar Hashmi. Penguin Books, 1997, ISBN 0-670-87596-1 .
  • Sudhanva Deshpande: Theater of the Streets: The Jana Natya Manch Experience. Janam, Delhi 2007.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Safdar Hashmi ( Memento of the original from May 28, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. with Jana Natya Manch @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.jananatyamanch.org
  2. ↑ Remembering Safdar
  3. ↑ Annie Zaidi: A Theater Story. In: Frontline 16/2006.
  4. ^ Safdar Hashmi Amar Rahe
  5. ^ Arjun Ghosh: Plays for the People. In: Frontline, 02/2005
  6. ↑ Sudhanva Deshpande: Safdar's Red-Hot Life. In: People's Democracy, 02/2014.
  7. ^ Life for all 10 killers of Hashmi. In: The Telegraph India, November 6, 2003.
  8. ↑ SAHMAT History at sahmat.org ( Memento of the original dated December 31, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.sahmat.org
personal data
SURNAME Hashmi, Safdar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Indian playwright, theater director and actor
DATE OF BIRTH April 12, 1954
PLACE OF BIRTH Delhi
DATE OF DEATH January 2, 1989
Place of death New Delhi