This will become the norm: Gaur

‘Same organisation cancelled KNC's play last year for the word 'bra’’

'Manish Sisodia replied to my tweet on Whatsapp'

The Sahitya Kala Parishad recently carried an ad to invite play entries for Bharatmuni Rang Samaroh and Yuva Natya Samaroh , two of Delhi’s most popular theatre festivals. However, the committee’s decision to choose the topics itself this year has irked Arvind Gaur , founder of Asmita Theatre Group , one of the biggest theatre groups in Delhi.He tells us, "Sahitya Kala Parishad comes under the Delhi government, and in the ad, they have clearly told us the topics that they wish us to make the plays on. The given topics are women empowerment, human rights, education, etc. Any play other than the given topics will not be considered, as per the ad. Why will the government control my artistic expression? We as artists know our responsibility and we understand the social, cultural and political milieu. You cannot dictate content. Aap yeh keh dete ki in topics pe bhi play banaiye, par sirf in topics pe hi play banao, yeh toh galat hai. Yeh toh ek custom ban jayega, aap kal ko kahenge ki nukkad natak bhi na karo. You cannot censor our content. I am not saying that the topics they have given are not worthy of doing plays on, but prohibition on choosing our own subject is the problem."Gaur adds, "This is the same organization which had cancelled the application of Kamala Nehru College last year because the dramatics society had used the word ‘bra’ in their play. I challenge Manish Sisodia to have an open debate with me on this topic, at any place, and we will definitely discuss why the government should not guide us in choosing our subjects. We are professionals, we are intelligent enough to know what is right and what is wrong. Agar kuch galat hoga, toh hum khud hi nahi karenge, par aap humein bata nahi sakte ki kya karna hai aur kya nahi."Gaur also says that his tweet questioning the move got a response from Deputy CM Manish Sisodia. "I had sent my tweet to most of my contacts on Whatsapp, and I had sent the same tweet to Manish Sisodia. He replied to me on Whatsapp and asked that if the government wants to use artists or theatre groups for their agendas, or to make them talk about their campaigns, what is the problem? I told him that that there is nothing wrong with it, but if you wish to do that, don’t include your agendas in theatre festivals. These are the two biggest festivals in Delhi’s theatre circuit. You can have workshops or other campaigns to propagate your agenda, but this is not the right medium. We are not against their agenda, we are against the idea of the government restricting our autonomy," explains Gaur.