Play seeks to shun violence

A street play by Samskara Sahithi, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC)’s cultural outfit, turned out to be a crowd-puller as it followed the trail of KPCC president M.M. Hassan’s Janamochana Yatra that began on April 7.

Sword is not my weapon of struggle was staged on all days of the Yatra, ahead of its arrival at the main venue of the day. The play, dealing with the cult of political violence and murder in the State, received a big reception when it was staged at Attingal, Nedumangad, Neyyattinkara, and Thampanoor. Scripted and directed by Aryadan Shoukath, chairman of the Samskara Sahithi, it seeks to spread the message of using ideas as the weapon of political discourse rather than arms.

The street play was presented at 40 venues across 14 districts, preceding the Yatra. It has references to political murders of S.P. Shuhaib and T.P. Chandrasekharan, besides reacting to beef lynching. The 30-minute play uses songs and Ottanthullal to criticise the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

“We succeeded in engaging the audience in serious political issues,” said Mr. Shoukath.

Parallel to the street play, the KPCC also screened a documentary, Shuhaib Enna Porali. According to a KPCC statement, the documentary, directed by P.T. Chacko, registered 10 lakh views in social media alone. The documentary was screened ahead of the Yatra at various venues on a specially mounted vehicle, it said.

Janamochana Yatra concluded here on Wednesday.