Safdar Hashmi#Legacy

Safdar Hashmi was born on 12 April 1954 in Delhi,{{Cite web |date=2008-05-08 |title=March of memories |url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/arts-and-culture/cinema/article30195772.ece |access-date=2023-10-12 |website=Frontline}} to Haneef and Qamar Azad Hashmi. He spent the early part of his life in Delhi and Aligarh, where he grew up in a liberal environment, and went on to complete his schooling in Delhi. He was the brother of activists Shabnam Hashmi and Sohail Hashmi, and actress Saba Azad is his niece.{{Cite web |last=Handa |first=Ekta |date=2020-01-02 |title=Safdar Hashmi – the firebrand Communist playwright who redefined art of resistance in India |url=https://theprint.in/theprint-profile/safdar-hashmi-the-firebrand-communist-playwright-who-redefined-art-of-resistance-in-india/343494/ |access-date=2023-09-18 |website=ThePrint}}

Hashmi graduated from St. Stephen's College, Delhi with a degree in English Literature, and went on to complete his M.A. in English from Delhi University.https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/reviews/story/living-and-dying-for-liberation-of-thoughts-69961 {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}} During this period, he became associated with the cultural unit of the Students' Federation of India, the student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and eventually with the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA). In the years before and after his graduation, he worked on several plays with IPTA, such as Kimlesh, and Dekhte Lena.{{cite book |author1=Qamara Āzāda Hāśamī |title=The Fifth Flame The Story of Safdar Hashmi |date=1997 |publisher=Penguin Books India |isbn=9780670875962 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ciFlAAAAMAAJ}}

{{Rquote|right|The issue is not where the play is performed (and street theatre is only a mode of ensuring that art is available to the people), but the principal issue is the 'definite and unresolvable contradiction between the bourgeois individualist view of art and the people's collectivist view of art'.
- Safdar Hashmi, The Enchanted Arch, Or the Individual and Collective Views of Art (April 1983), The Right to Perform, pp. 28–29}}

Hashmi co-founded the Jana Natya Manch (People's Theatre Front), with the acronym JANAM ("birth" in Hindi), in 1973. JANAM grew out of the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA){{cite web |url=http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2316/stories/20060825000608000.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061205235424/http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2316/stories/20060825000608000.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-date=2006-12-05 |title=A theatre story |publisher=Hinduonnet.com |date=2006-08-14 |access-date=2015-02-25 }} and was associated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist), with which he was actively involved in the 1970s. When Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was accused of rigging the elections, he produced a street play, Kursi, Kursi, Kursi (Chair, Chair, Chair), as a reaction to the controversy.{{cite web|url=http://www.dancewithshadows.com/society/safdar-hashmi-satyendra-dubey.asp|title=Safdar Hashmi: Dying to keep ideals alive|publisher=Dancewithshadows.com|access-date=9 September 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002025629/http://www.dancewithshadows.com/society/safdar-hashmi-satyendra-dubey.asp|archive-date=2 October 2013|df=dmy-all}} The play narrates the story of a king whose throne moves with him when he attempts to give it up in favour of an elected representative. The play was performed every day for a week, at the Boat Club Lawns in New Delhi, then a hub of political activity. It proved to be a turning point for JANAM.{{Cite web |last=Thomas |first=Rosamma |date=2020-03-22 |title=Safdar Hashmi springs to life in 'Halla Bol' |url=https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/reviews-recommendations/safdar-hashmi-springs-to-life-in-halla-bol |access-date=2023-09-18 |website=National Herald |language=en}}

Until 1975, JANAM performed open-air proscenium and street plays for mass audiences. When Indira Gandhi imposed a state of emergency and made political theatre difficult, Hashmi began to work as a lecturer in English literature in universities in Garhwal, Kashmir, and Delhi.

When the Emergency ended in 1977, he returned to political activism, and in 1978, JANAM took to street theatre in a big way with Machine, which was performed for a trade union meeting of over 200,000 workers on 20 November 1978.{{cite web|url=http://www.proxsa.org/culture/safdar.html|title=Safdar Hashmi Amar Rahe|publisher=Proxsa.org|accessdate=9 September 2014|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303235455/http://www.proxsa.org/culture/safdar.html|url-status=dead}} This was followed by plays on the distress of small peasants (Gaon Se Shahar Tak), on clerical fascism (Hatyare & Apharan Bhaichare Ke), on unemployment (Teen Crore), on violence against women (Aurat) and on inflation (DTC ki Dhandhli). Hashmi also produced several documentaries and a TV serial for Doordarshan, including Khilti Kaliyan (Flowers in Bloom), which examined rural empowerment. He also wrote books for children and criticism of the Indian stage.{{cite web|url=http://www.childplanet.com/hindipoems/safdar.html |title=A Poem by Safdar Hashmi |publisher=Childplanet.com |date=2005-03-28 |access-date=2015-02-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304081832/http://www.childplanet.com/hindipoems/safdar.html |archive-date=4 March 2016 }}

Hashmi was the de facto director of JANAM, and prior to his death, it gave about 4,000 performances of 24 street plays, mostly in working-class neighbourhoods, factories and workshops.{{cite web|url=http://www.indiatogether.org/2006/aug/soc-hashmi.htm|title=Remembering Safdar|date=31 August 2006 |publisher=Indiatogether.org|accessdate=9 September 2014}} Hashmi was a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the largest communist party in India.{{cite web|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/nov/05khan.htm|title=5 November 2003, Fighting for Justice till the end|work=Rediff.com|accessdate=9 September 2014}}

In 1979, he married his comrade and theatre actress, Moloyshree. Later, he worked for the Press Trust of India (PTI) and The Economic Times as a journalist, and then became Press Information Officer of the Government of West Bengal in Delhi.[http://www.jananatyamanch.org/safdar_hashmi.htm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080103000456/http://www.jananatyamanch.org/safdar_hashmi.htm|date=3 January 2008}} In 1984, he gave up his job and devoted himself full-time to political activism.[http://www.jananatyamanch.org/whats_janam.htm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080103081053/http://www.jananatyamanch.org/whats_janam.htm|date=3 January 2008}}

Hashmi’s output includes two proscenium plays – an adaptation of Maxim Gorky's Enemies (1983) and Moteram ka Satyagraha (with Habib Tanvir, 1988) – many songs, a television series script, poems and plays for children, and documentary films. While committed to radical, popular, and left-wing art, Hashmi refrained from clichéd portrayals, and was not afraid of formal experimentation.

On 1 January 1989, the JANAM troupe began a performance of the street play Halla Bol (Raise Your Voice!), during the Ghaziabad municipal elections in Sahibabad's Jhandapur village (near Delhi). During the performance, the troupe was allegedly attacked by Indian National Congress workers.[http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2003-11/26deshpande.cfm] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20040215104250/http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2003-11/26deshpande.cfm|date=15 February 2004}} Hashmi was fatally injured following the scuffle and died the following day. On 4 January 1989, two days after his death, his wife Moloyshree Hashmi went to the same spot again with the JANAM troupe, and defiantly completed the play.{{cite web|url=http://www.frontline.in/navigation/?type=static&page=archiveSearch&aid=20031205002710400&ais=24&avol=20|title=Delayed justice|publisher = Frontline|accessdate=18 January 2016}}

Fourteen years after the incident, a Ghaziabad local court convicted ten people, including Congress Party member Mukesh Sharma, for the murder.{{cite web|url=http://telegraphindia.com/1031106/asp/nation/story_2540958.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031107051006/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1031106/asp/nation/story_2540958.asp|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 November 2003|title=Judgement Details, The Telegraph, 6 November 2003|publisher=Flonnet.com|accessdate=9 September 2014}}

File:Vidya Shah Musician sahmat delhi ist january 2010.jpg

Hashmi has become a symbol of cultural resistance against authoritarianism for the Indian Left. JANAM continues its theatre work, and on 12 April 2012, Hashmi's birthday, the group inaugurated Studio Safdar, a performance and workshop space located in Shadi Khampur, near Patel Nagar in Central Delhi. The space is next door to a left-wing cafe and bookstore, May Day.{{cite news|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/a-house-for-mr-hashmi/936062/0 |title=A House for Mr Hashmi |newspaper=The Indian Express |date=13 April 2012 |accessdate=13 May 2013}} The writer Bhisham Sahni, along with many other artists, founded the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT) in February 1989,[http://www.sahmat.org/aboutus.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071231050028/http://www.sahmat.org/aboutus.html|date=31 December 2007}} as an open platform for politically and socially conscious artists. Hashmi's writings were later collected in The Right to Perform: Selected Writings of Safdar Hashmi (New Delhi, 1989).

Each year on 1 January, the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Day is observed as a "Day of Resolve" by SAHMAT, and a daylong cultural congregation, "Jashn-e-Daura", is organised in New Delhi.{{cite web|url=http://www.hindu.com/2008/01/02/stories/2008010260511700.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080104041610/http://www.hindu.com/2008/01/02/stories/2008010260511700.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 January 2008|work=The Hindu|title=The Hindi (National), 1 January 2008|date=2008-01-02|accessdate=9 September 2014}} The day is also commemorated by JANAM, which organises street plays at Jhandapur village, in Sahibabad, where he was killed.{{cite web|url=http://pd.cpim.org/2003/0112/01122003_safdar2.htm|title=People's Democracy, 2003|publisher=Pd.cpim/org|accessdate=9 September 2014|archive-date=5 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205224348/http://pd.cpim.org/2003/0112/01122003_safdar2.htm|url-status=dead}}[http://www.cpim.org/pd/2005/0109/01092005_safdar-sahmat.htm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050504025638/http://www.cpim.org/pd/2005/0109/01092005_safdar-sahmat.htm|date=4 May 2005}}[http://www.cpim.org/pd/2007/0107/01072007_janam.htm] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100805030850/http://www.cpim.org/pd/2007/0107/01072007_janam.htm|date=5 August 2010}}

In 1998, Safdar Hashmi Natyasangham was formed in Kozhikode, Kerala, which provides free training to economically backward students.{{cite web|url=http://www.hindu.com/2008/01/01/stories/2008010150990200.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080105110602/http://www.hindu.com/2008/01/01/stories/2008010150990200.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 January 2008|work=The Hindu|title=The Hindi, 1 January 2008|date=2008-01-01|accessdate=9 September 2014}}

The 2003 film Anbe Sivam, made by Sundar C, and the 2008 film Halla Bol, made by Rajkumar Santoshi, were inspired by his life. The latter also depicts a scene where a street theatre activist is beaten by men hired by a political party, an incident which turns into a catalyst for a public uprising.{{cite web|url=http://movies.monstersandcritics.com/indiancinema/features/article_1329137.php/Halla_Bol_based_on_Safdar_Hashmi_Santoshi__Interview_ |access-date=15 January 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415173050/http://movies.monstersandcritics.com/indiancinema/features/article_1329137.php/Halla_Bol_based_on_Safdar_Hashmi_Santoshi__Interview_ |archive-date=15 April 2009 |title='Halla Bol' based on Safdar Hashmi: Santoshi (Interview) – Monsters and Critics }}

In 1989, the painter M.F. Husain had a painting "Tribute to Hashmi" sold at auction for over $1 million,{{Cite web |last=DHNS |title=The king of canvas |url=https://www.deccanherald.com/features/king-canvas-2423451 |access-date=2023-10-12 |website=Deccan Herald}} the first time a painting by an Indian artist reached this valuation.{{Cite news |date=2008-02-26 |title=Husain work sold for Rs 4.4 crore |work=The Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/husain-work-sold-for-rs-4-4-crore/articleshow/2814296.cms |access-date=2023-10-12 |issn=0971-8257}}

The 2020 book Halla Bol: The Death and Life of Safdar Hashmi by Sudhanva Deshpande recounts the events leading up to the attack on Jana Natya Manch's performance of the play Halla Bol in Jhandapur on 1 January 1989, in which Safdar sustained fatal injuries.{{Cite web|url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/books/article30327856.ece|title = Safdar, a life extraordinary| date=18 December 2019 }} It also discusses Safdar's work.

The Institute for Research and Documentation in Social Sciences (IRDS), a non-governmental organisation from Lucknow, has been awarding the Safdar Hashmi Award for Human Rights in reverence to his contributions to the cause of human rights.{{cite web|url=http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k12/feb/feb150.php |title=News Headlines : Two media persons among IRDS awardees|publisher=Indiantelevision.com |date=15 February 2012 |accessdate=13 May 2013}} A street in Mandi House, New Delhi was named after Safdar Hashmi.{{Cite web|date=2017-03-26|title=Safdar Hashmi Marg|url=https://roadsofdelhi.com/portfolio/safdar-hashmi-marg/|access-date=2020-12-02|website=Roads of Delhi|archive-date=18 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418214642/https://roadsofdelhi.com/portfolio/safdar-hashmi-marg/|url-status=dead}}

• Halla Bol: The Death and Life of Safdar Hashmi, by Sudhanva Deshpande, Delhi, LeftWord Books, 2020.{{Cite web |date=2020-04-24 |title=Interviews and archives are combined in this portrait of the artist |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/books/review-halla-bol-the-death-and-life-of-safdar-hashmi-by-sudhanva-deshpande/story-Ok1wrVB0YciaFhEdPAVFaI.html |access-date=2023-10-12 |website=The Hindustan Times}}
• The Right to Perform: Selected Writings of Safdar Hashmi, Delhi, SAHMAT, 1989.{{Cite book |last=Hashmi |first=Safdar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R4sLAQAAMAAJ |title=The Right to Perform: Selected Writings of Safdar Hashmi |date=1989 |publisher=SAHMAT}}
• Paanchwa Chiraag, Qamar Azad Hashmi, (Hindi). 1995.
• Qamar Azad Hashmi, The Fifth Flame: The Story of Safdar Hashmi. (Translation) Penguin Books, 1997. {{ISBN|0-670-87596-1}}.
• Theatre of the Streets: The Jana Natya Manch Experience, edited by Sudhanva Deshpande, Delhi: Janam, 2007.{{Cite journal |last=Ghosh |first=Arjun |date=2010 |title=Performing Change/Changing Performance: An Exploration of the Life of a Street Play by the Jana Natya Manch |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40982906 |journal=Asian Theatre Journal |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=76–99 |doi=10.1353/atj.2010.0004 |jstor=40982906 |s2cid=144172351 |issn=0742-5457|url-access=subscription }}
• {{cite magazine |last1=Deshpande |first1=Sudhanva |title=Voice of the streets |url=https://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl2509/stories/20080509250909300.htm |date=26 April – 9 May 2008 |magazine=Frontline |volume=25 |issue=9}}
• Vijay Prashad, Safdar Hashmi Amar Rahe{{cite web |url=http://www.pragoti.org/hi/node/2907 |title=Safdar Hashmi Amar Rahe | PRAGOTI |access-date=2008-07-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130415160258/http://www.pragoti.org/hi/node/2907 |archive-date=15 April 2013 }}
• Eugene van Erven, Plays, Applause and Bullets: Safdar Hashmi's Street Theatre{{cite web |url=http://www.pragoti.org/hi/node/2911 |title=Archived copy |website=pragoti.org |access-date=15 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924080838/http://www.pragoti.org/hi/node/2911 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |url-status=dead}}
• Vellikkeel Raghavan, Cross-Continental Subversive Strategies: Thematic and Methodological Affinities in the Plays of Dario Fo and Safdar Hashmi. Ph.D. Thesis. University of Calicut. 2007.
• Vellikkeel Raghavan. Halla Bol. Translation of Safdar Hashmi's Hindi play Halla Bol (1989) into English. Indian Literature. Sahitya Academy, New Delhi, India. Vol. LV No. I, Issue No. 263 May/June 2011, pp. 115–137.{{Cite web |last=Ghosh |first=Sayantan |date=2020-03-22 |title='Halla Bol': Safdar Hashmi's biography reminds us what it means to be a citizen of a democracy |url=https://scroll.in/article/956828/halla-bol-safdar-hashmis-biography-reminds-us-what-it-means-to-be-a-citizen-of-a-democracy |access-date=2023-10-12 |website=Scroll.in}}
• Vellikkeel Raghavan. Machine. Translation of Safdar Hashmi's Hindi play Macheen (1978) into English. Indian Literature. Sahitya Academy, New Delhi, India. Vol. LV No. I, Issue No. 261 Jan/Feb 2011, pp. 165–173.
• Vellikkeel Raghavan. "Safdar Hashmi's Machine:A Metaphor of Post-Independence Indian Industriabist Apparatus." Indian Literature. Sahitya Academy, New Delhi, India. Vol. LVI, Iuuse No. 271 Sept/Oct 2012, pp. 219–232.{{Cite web |last=Deshpande |first=Sudhanva |date=2017-01-03 |title=Remembering Safdar Hashmi and the play that changed Indian street theatre forever |url=https://scroll.in/magazine/825686/remembering-safdar-hashmi-and-the-play-that-changed-indian-street-theatre-forever |access-date=2023-10-12 |website=Scroll.in}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.sahmat.in/ Official website of SAHMAT]
• [http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/ndtv-special-ndtv-24x7/janam-halla-bol-for-artspace/182760 Documentary on Jana Natya Manch, Safdar & Its Theatre Festival in Mumbai 'SARKASH' by NDTV]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090528171309/http://www.jananatyamanch.org/node/25 Official website of Jan Natya Manch, 'JANAM']
• {{IMDb name|2519900}}
• [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE5D7133FF937A15752C0A96F948260 Interview with Safdar Hashmi, New York Times]

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