The Hindu : International : "Play had approval of Sikh elders"

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 30, 2004

International

International

"Play had approval of Sikh elders"

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, DEC. 29. The Sikh protesters, who forced the closure of a play in Birmingham recently because it depicted sexual abuse in a gurdwara, have come under renewed pressure to explain their conduct after it emerged that the play had already been vetted by senior community leaders.

The disclosure by Yasmin Wilde, who plays the victim of alleged sexual abuse in Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti's controversial play "Behzti", sparked fresh criticism of violent protest groups.

Ms. Wilde told The Guardian that several changes were made to the script following suggestions from senior members of the Sikh community who attended a dress rehearsal. The changes included removing a number of jokes and swear words to satisfy the Sikh representatives despite the reservations of many in the cast who were unhappy about making compromises in the script.

Inviting "possible critics'' of a play to its dress rehearsal or involving them in the "creative process'' was itself highly unusual, she pointed out. "It may be a mistake to consult because it makes people think that they have a voice in the creative process,'' Ms Wilde said.

She claimed that the play, which has deeply divided the Sikh community, had been "misunderstood''. She said contrary to its critics it was "very religious'', very "pro-God'' and written by a "good Sikh''.

"The message of the play isn't: `isn't religion awful'. It's about how human frailty can take you away from what's true about your religion,'' she said.

Ms. Wilde said the problem was not with peaceful protesters but with those who turned violent, and it was decided to withdraw the play after police warned that things could get worse.

"They said you have every right to put a play on but they did say, `this is just going to get worse and, worse now that it has become an international issue,''' she said.

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