Against the backdrop of a murder, “Shaq Ke Ghere Mein”, which was presented by Anveshan at Akshara Theatre recently, exposes the blatant human rights violation by the State. It is a play of social protest that provokes us to resist the coercive power of the State and fight its undemocratic character.
The play is written and directed by Rajiv Ashish, a senior theatre artiste and social activist, who treats theatre as a vehicle of social change, focusing on the inhuman living conditions of people in the slum areas. While trying to unravel the mystery of a murder of a woman, various aspects of the dark faces of an authoritarian state come to the fore. It is the State that treats human rights activists as the enemies of the state and more often than not adopts unconstitutional means to silence their dissenting voices.
Set in a police station headed by a notorious encounter specialist, the play unfolds in the course of the interrogation of a murder suspect, who happens to be the husband of the murdered woman, as well as through the conversation between the officer and his deputy. As soon as the husband of the deceased is brought to the police station, the officer finds a god-sent opportunity to frame and kill the husband — a college teacher and radical human rights activist committed to the cause of the slum-dwellers and their right to live with dignity — while in police custody.
Afraid of his persistent efforts to expose the anti-people acts of the State, the police have been on the lookout to eliminate him. A formidable enemy has become an easy target.
At another level the play dissects the various layers of a semi-feudal society plagued by the caste system, communalism and gender prejudices and the emergence of Dalit power challenging the hegemony and privileges of the upper castes. The playwright has managed to weave these various thematic threads into the basic structure of the narrative. The conflict is resolved in a logical manner with an aura of suspense that keeps the audience engaged from start to end.
However, the sets are not imaginative enough to capture the stark and terrifying ambience of the interrogation cell in which the protagonist is humiliated and tortured, and where the conspiracy to eliminate him is hatched.
The front page of the brochure describes the play as “A creative criticism of Barrie Keeffe's SUS”.
In fact, the British playwright wrote this play in 1979 in the context of the attempt by Margaret Thatcher's Conservative governmentto acquire more powers to curb the arrival of immigrants and to revive the weakening British economy. In its review the New York Times noted, “Keeffe's play is mostly political, an outcry against emerging fascism, not simple racism.” While Keefe's protagonist is black, Rajeev's protagonist is a Muslim — which is in the eyes of the police makes him a natural suspect. Rajeev's play would have become politically more forceful and relevant if he had placed his plot in the context of the brutal state power being used against people in the name of combating Naxalites and terrorists. In this sense the play lacks political perspective.
The most aptly cast performer in the production is Rajeev Ashish, who plays the role of Chauhan, the brute interrogator. His slow delivery of lines, measured movements, contorted facial expressions, style of cigarette smoking and his mocking tones makes his character an embodiment of evil. Gokarn Singh acts as Sikander with emotional intensity. At times he becomes a cynic rather than a fearless crusader for the rights of the underprivileged.
His Sikander ultimately stands alone, incapable of seizing the initiative and turning the slum-dwellers' struggle into a mass movement. Tafsil tries his best to give a credible performance as Paswan, the deputy of Chauhan who turns the tables on his boss.
