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A musical tribute to Hashmi

— Photo: S. Subramanium

HIGH DRAMA: Members of Dadi Pudumjee’s puppet theatre group performing at the 20th Safdar Hashmi Memorial in New Delhi on Thursday.

To pay tributes to noted street theatre personality Safdar Hashmi, the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT) organised a cultural function at the Constitution Club on Rafi Marg in the Capital on New Year’s Day.

Established in January 1989, shortly after the brutal New Year’s Day murder of Safdar Hashmi, SAHMAT observes January 1 every year as a thematic memorial to remember this well-known social activist.

This year, the programme included musical performances by artistes from all over the country. There was also a dance by Astad Deboo and a puppet play by Dadi Pudumjee.

The programme also paid tributes to painter Manjit Bawa, who died in Delhi recently, and journalist Sabina Sehgal Saikia, who was killed during the terror attack on the Taj hotel in Mumbai. The organisation acknowledged their contribution to the growth of this NGO.

SAHMAT urged people to maintain peace as these were “the causes dear to Safdar Hashmi and formed a large part of his works”. It also expressed dismay over the recent terror strikes in Mumbai.

It re-asserted that peace between the two countries must be maintained as jingoistic calls for retribution and sabre-rattling will only further vitiate an already bad situation and the common people of the entire sub-continent will pay a heavy price if the war mongers on either side of the border succeed in their efforts.

The programme saw participation of visual and performing artists, writers, intellectuals, journalists, political and cultural activists who had gathered to observe the 20th anniversary of the fatal attack on the versatile actor-writer-poet-filmmaker-political activist.

Madhur Tankha

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