Jail for Singers of Phule, Ambedkar

 -AMRENDRA YADAV

Sheetal Sathe and Sachin Mali of Kabir Kala Manch, whose songs celebrated the themes found in Phule and Amberdkar’s thoughts and helped raise the social consciousness of the marginalized peoples, have been sent to jail.

According to police sources, they “surrendered” on 3 April near the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha.

The Government of Maharashtra and its police say that the workers of Kabir Kala Manch (Kabir Arts Forum) were peddling Maoist propaganda and were Naxalites. On the other hand, Sathe and her associates insist that they were only working for spreading awareness among the Dalits and OBCs by presenting the ideas and thoughts of Phule and Ambedkar in the form of songs. The police was after these artistes for long and was on the look-out for them.

  Sheetal is associated with Kabir Kala Manch for over a decade and the manch workers have been travelling from one place to another to build socially, culturally and politically conducive atmosphere for the Bahujans. Kabir Kala Manch claims that it was the first Dalit group to have reached Gujarat after the 2002 riots and work for social harmony. It also raised its voice when atrocities were committed on Dalits at Khairlanji in Maharashtra. But as soon as their voice reached Pune, police swung into action. And now, the Maharastra ATS is describing them as Naxalites. The artistes associated with the manch say that when they bonded with the agitations opposing the appropriation of the land of the poor by the SEZs and the builders, the government became panicky and branded them as Naxals. The government, on the other hand, argues that such groups need to be dealt with an iron hand because through them, for the first time, Maoists had surfaced in the urban areas.

Sheetal, who is now in jail, is a postgraduate in sociology from the Pune University. Sachin is doing his M.Phil. after completing PG from the same university. Their friends say that Sheetal had decided to battle for the cause of the exploited and the deprived when she was studying in the university. In 2002, she joined Amarnath Chandolia’s Kabir Kala Manch. The ATS files say that Sheetal and her associates incite the people and talk about revolutions and revolutionaries. Sheetal often relates stories about Bhagat Singh and considers Ambedkar, Phule and Annabhau Sathe as her ideals.

According to Shahir Sambhaji of Kabir Kala Manch Bachao Samiti (Save Kabir Kala Manch Committee) Sheetal is not only an accomplished singer but she also writes beautiful poetry and is an adept music composer. If she raises her voice in favour of the Bahujans that was her democratic right –something no one can deprive her of.

In 2011, ATS had arrested one Enzela, describing her as secretary of a Naxal organization and had claimed that the Naxals were funding Kabir Kala Manch. Subsequently, Siddharth Bhonsle, 24, and Deepak Dangle of Kabir Kala Manch were taken into custody. The arrest of two of their associates in the name of being Naxals shocked the workers of the manch and they were forced to go underground. ATS contends that many members of the manch have ties with the Naxals. The manch members are being described as Naxals on the basis of the confessional statements extracted from the arrested activists.

“You may not have even touched a gun in your life but if the sound of your tambourine reaches farther than the report of the guns of the police, then you are bound to be branded as a Naxal”, says a worker of Kabir Kala Manch Bachao Samiti. The Kabir Kala Manch represents those people whose language and culture has been snatched from them, who have been deprived of their land and means of livelihood and pushed into perpetual slavery. Now, even their freedom of expression is being throttled at the behest of the corporate houses. This is against the spirit of the Constitution. To sing songs and stage plays for, about and in favour of the poor is no crime. 

                                                (Published in  Forward Press,  May, 2013 Issue)