Theatre productions depict the evils of religious extremism filtering into society.
By Adnan Fahad for Khabar South Asia in Dhaka – 10/2/12
February 09, 2012
Young lovers Nishimon and Tarataj dream of building a house together on the banks of the Gomati River, but Tarataj is distracted by a religious leader who fills his head with different dreams – dreams of a magical and colourful life in heaven.
Soon Tarataj is assigned to kill people with a suicide bomb.
He dies in his attack on an inter-city train loaded with relief materials bound for Bangladesh's northern region, blowing up a compartment filled with intellectuals, poets and litterateurs.
Nishimon is on the train too, but even her love and their once-shared dreams cannot stop Trataj from setting off the bomb.
The tragedy is an updated version of Rabindranath Tagore's famous drama "Bisharjon," in which the Nobel laureate protested the killing of innocent people in the name of religion.
The new version, "Nishimon-Bisharjon," is an example of how theatre has become part of a movement in Bangladesh aiming to combat the rise of radical Islam since the late 1990s.
"I have just manifested the context of the recent times in 'Nishimon-Bisharjon,' keeping intact the poetic essence of the original play," playwright Anan Zaman told Khabar South Asia.
Anan, an assistant professor in Jahangirnagar University's theatre department, said his protagonist Nishimon symbolises peace and protest against fundamentalism.
In the last scene, Nishimon in death seeks out King Govinda Manikya, a character of Tagore's drama who in real life banned killing in the name of religion in the Indian state of Tripura in the late 17th century.
"'Nishimon-Bisharjon' has highlighted the reality in Bangladesh. Though militancy here is now latent, militant activities still exist in various forms," says Ashiq Rahman Leeon, the play's director.
The play has been staged more than a dozen times, including once in Tripura, he said.
Saidur Rahman Lipon, a theatre enthusiast, is also using drama to spread an anti-militancy message.
Lipon is now working with Puthi, an ancient form of Bengali literature that consists of poetic fairy tales and religious stories of rural ancient Bengal.
"Traditionally, Bengali people are not fundamentalist by nature. Islam here in the sub-continent also was accepted as the religion of peace and equality. I want to fight the rise of militancy in Bangladesh through my works," he said.
"Lal Jamin" (Red Land), another drama against the evils of terrorism, violence and religious fundamentalism, will be staged in Tripura on February 22nd and 23rd.
"Lal Jamin" is the story of one woman's struggle during Bangladesh's 1971 liberation war when a group of religious fanatics collaborated with Pakistani soldiers to kill and rape thousands of women, its director, Sudip Chakravarty, said.
The woman fights throughout her life against all forms of terrorism and the use of religion to repress people, he said.
"Our fight against militancy and terrorism will continue until the fanatics are rooted out from the land of Bangladesh," Sudip said.
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