Kabir Kala Manch

Kabir Kala Manch (Hindi: कबीर कला मञ्च) is a cultural organization that was formed in Pune, Maharashtra in 2002 in the wake of the Gujarat riots. Through music, poetry and theatre, it is spreading an anti-caste, pro-democracy message to the society.^[1] It was made up of students and young professionals who performed protest poetry and plays in slums and streets, shaking up the cultural scene in Pune as they presented a voice for the voiceless.

History

After the Gujarat riots in 2002, a group of students came together and formed Kabir Kala Manch, a cultural group which, through their music and poetry, took up the cause of social inequality, exploitation of the underclasses, farmer suicides, female infanticide, Dalit killings and the widening net of corruption.

Some of the performances of the Kabir Kala Manch have been featured by Anand Patwardhan in his documentary Jai Bhim Comrade.^[2][3]

Allegations of Naxalite links

The cultural group came into news when activists of the Kabir Kala Manch were framed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act as being "Maoists" and "Naxalites" by the state government. In May 2011, a crackdown by the Anti-Terrorism Squad on musicians and poets accused of promoting Maoist or Naxalite ideology led to Sheetal Sathe and other members of Kabir Kala Manch going into hiding.^[4][5]

On 2 April 2013, Sheetal Sathe and her husband Sachin Male, also a member of KKM, came out of hiding from the police in Mumbai while maintaining that they were innocent of the charges and insisting their act did not constitute "surrender",^[6] after two members of KKM, Deepak Dengle and Siddharth, were granted bail by the Bombay High Court.^[7] But in spite of her pregnancy, Sheetal, along with her husband, were denied bail immediately and again on June 4, 2013 by the Mumbai Sessions Court.^[8][9] She was finally granted bail by the Bombay High Court on June 28, 2013 on humanitarian grounds.^[10]

Attack on KKM members

KKM members along with the event's organizers, were attacked by the members of Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad after their performance at National Film Archive of India (NFAI), organized by the students of Film and Television Institute of India, Pune.^[11]

References