Free Speech Tracker

List of Incidents in Maharashtra -> Censorship -> 2010
Shiv Sena protests play about Pakistani poet
Ref: http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDEwLzA0LzAzI0FyMDAyMDI=&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom
Mumbai, Maharashtra

A local unit of the Shiv Sena has protested the staging of �Sara� a play in Hindi by Mahesh Dattani about the life of a Pakistani poet.

Dattani, who has written plays such as Final Solutions and Dance Like a Man, said, �A man called me up on Thursday and warned me of dire consequences if I did a Pakistani play. I explained that it�s not a Pakistani play, but about a Pakistani. But I was threatened with physical harm.��

Local �vibhag pramukh� of the Sena Anil Parab said �We will not permit the parading of obscenity under the guise of artistic freedom. We are against the corruption of morals.��

Written by Shahid Anwar, the drama hinges on the life of Sara Shagufta, who was known for writing poems fuelled by her tumultuous personal life. The play is largely drawn from her letters to Punjabi writer Amrita Pritam, who published Shagufta�s first collection of poems in Punjabi.

The play is scheduled to be performed in Mumbai on April 4 and police have offered protection to the theatre group and the theatre.