1998 was the birth centenary year of Bertolt Brecht, one of the greatest playwrights, poets and cultural theorists of all times. He lived in Germany through her darkest hour and was to say in one of his celebrated poems
“And will there also be singing in the dark times
Yes there will be singing about the dark times”
Brecht was to profoundly influence political theatre and political cinema all over the world and many playwrights and cultural activists in India were also inspired by his writings and his activism. Safdar (Hashmi), who had spent most of his adult life actively engaging with theatre was one of them. So it was not a coincidence, when, in the scores of protests and solidarity demonstrations organised in the aftermath of his death, Safdar’s comrades carried a banner with the same text
“And will there also be singing in the dark times
Yes there will be singing about the dark times”
What Brecht was saying is obvious – the literature produced in dark times will be a documentation of those dark times.Brecht underlines the significance of taking a position for not taking a position in times such as these is also connivance
Ah, what an age it is
When to speak of trees is almost a crime
For it is a kind of silence about injustice
Dark times are a test of creativity; they are also a test of the zeal and intensity with which the creative writer, poet, artist, musician and the public intellectual, if s/he is true to her/his art, engages with and reflects these times in her/his creations.
1998-99 was the 40th death anniversary of Bertolt Brecht it was also the tenth year of the assault on Safdar and Gauhar Raza made a film on Bertolt Brecht as a tribute to Brecht and to Safdar and to foreground the question of both speaking and silences.
In the 'Svendborg Poems' Brecht was to say.
This is the year which people will talk about
This is the year which people will be silent about
Who will talk and who keeps their council about these times will be remembered and even when these times are long gone and those who were responsible for inflicting these terrible times are dead and forgotten, people will remember those who spoke up and they will not forgive those that had not
Gauhar Raza’a tribute to Brecht and to Safdar used this 1938 poem of Brecht in an Urdu translation, the English translation in ‘Singing About the Dark Times’: Poetry and Conflict by Sarah Maguire http://www.poetrytranslation.org/articles/singing-about-the-dark-times-poetry-and-conflict is reproduced below
They won't say: when the walnut tree shook in the wind
But: when the house painter crushed the workers.
They won't say: when the child skimmed a flat stone across the rapids
But: when the great wars were being prepared for.
They won't say: when the woman came into the room
But: when the great powers joined forces against the workers.
However, they won't say: the times were dark
Rather: why were their poets silent?
The times we are living in are times when to remain silent is to connive with all those who are responsible for unleashing a reign of terror against all those who dare disagree.
We are living in times that in times to come, even the theoretical possibility of their return will scare the generations yet to be born. And if the poets, the writers, the film makers, the actors, the intellectuals do not speak up then the generations yet to come, when they are born and grown up, will ask why were you silent, why did you not speak?
Those that speak up will be targeted, as they have always been targeted, but this has never stopped them. We don’t have to wait for the questions to come from future generations. We too can ask, just as Rohith Vemula did, his four comrades Dontha Prasanth, Vijay Kumar, Sheshaiah Chemudugunta and Velpula Sunkana did, just as Kanhaya did, Umar did Anirban did, Nivedita Menon did and many others have and thousands are doing every day.
The questions don’t have to stop, they have only one answer, physical force, and that answer is doomed from its inception. Physical force has never been able to supress questions. Our ability to ask questions and our insistence about asking them is the guarantee of their defeat.
Here are some questions Gauhar Raza the Scientist, the Film Maker, the Poet asked at a Mushaira
धर्म में लिपटी वतन परस्ती क्या क्या स्वांग रचाएगी
मसली कलियाँ, झुलसा गुलशन, ज़र्द ख़िज़ाँ दिखलाएगी
यूरोप जिस वहशत से अब भी सहमा सहमा रहता है
खतरा है वह वहशत मेरे मुल्क में आग लगायेगी
जर्मन गैसकदों से अबतक खून की बदबू आती है
अंधी वतन परस्ती हम को उस रस्ते ले जायेगी
अंधे कुएं में झूट की नाव तेज़ चली थी मान लिया
लेकिन बाहर रौशन दुनियां तुम से सच बुलवायेगी
नफ़रत में जो पले बढे हैं, नफ़रत में जो खेले हैं
नफ़रत देखो आगे आगे उनसे क्या करवायेगी
फनकारो से पूछ रहे हो क्यों लौटाए हैं सम्मान
पूछो, कितने चुप बैठे हैं, शर्म उन्हें कब आयेगी
यह मत खाओ, वह मत पहनो, इश्क़ तो बिलकुल करना मत
देश द्रोह की छाप तुम्हारे ऊपर भी लग जायेगी
यह मत भूलो अगली नस्लें रौशन शोला होती हैं
आग कुरेदोगे, चिंगारी दामन तक तो आएगी
And Zee News, known for its creativity had found its next Target. Zee News, purportedly the purveyor of news, but increasingly known for doctoring videos and manufacturing rumours, has taken upon itself to prove that Kanhaiya, Umar and Anirban are engaging in activities detrimental to the safety of India.
The Channel has been tying itself in knots for close to a week trying to prove that professor Nivedita Menon is anti-national and it has now picked on Gauhar Raza for reciting his poetry at the 51st Shankar Shad Mushaira organised by the DCM group, according to Zee News this was a gathering of friends of Afzal Guru.
The question is can they silence the rising crescendo of protest, can they prevent people from asking embarrassing questions can they brow beat I.25 billion people?
Clearly the answer is no, The Government does not elect the people and it cannot dismiss them or overthrow them, it is always the other way round and the questions have begun to roll in.
(The author is a founding trustee of SAHMAT. a writer, film maker and heritage enthusiast; he is also the brother of Safdar Hashmi)