Thousands of artists and performers from theatre, music, films and folk culture on Saturday participated in a rally seeking a united future for democracy and against hate. With the Lok Sabha polls around the corner, the walk was aimed at calling out violence and envisioning a future that is equitable, just and free.
Held from the Reti Bunder in Mahim to Carter Road in Bandra, the walk organised by the 2020 Group, a self-organised coalition of Mumbai-based artists, architects, filmmakers, cultural administration and live art practitioners, was part of a nation-wide day of art and culture. Among the participants were actor Kalki Koechlin and filmmaker Amol Palekar.
“Lots of plays and films have been censored. It is important to express healthiness of debate against hate,” Ms. Koechlin told The Hindu. Theatre actor Dolly Thakore said, “The things happening around us are affecting everybody. We do not want a country where intelligence is undermined and there is a division.”
A group of artists using dindi, a devotional dance form from Maharashtra, to speak up against hate and create an atmosphere of dissent stood out. Sanjukta Wagh, who was a part of the group, said, “The Warkari saint poets, along with Kabir and Khusrau, have been great unifiers. We remember the great reformers of our times and also those who have been silenced. Their spirits live through our songs.”
A group dressed as school students, with books covered in brown paper in their hands, marched for ‘desaffronising’ of textbooks, history and culture.“We want our children to study freely without controlling content, knowledge and thought,” Timiri Gupta, an educator from the group, said.
Organisers of the event, who wanted to remain anonymous to encourage a collective, called for a society free of hate, where democracy is available to everybody. “We want a future that is against hate crimes and mob lynchings, one that holds individual privacy sacrosanct,” an organiser said.
“It is important to have a future where a difference of views is allowed and where people don’t go after each other for their views. It is also important that we have a future where we can self-determine who we are and hope to reclaim our faith back in the four pillars of our democracy,” another organiser added.