Voices from the Valley

A teenage football star, Bilal, is hoping his talent would pedal his dreams forward, but the 18-year-old orphan carries the responsibility of his younger sister, who is still struggling to accept the death of her father. Set in the valley of Kashmir, the play Eidgah Ki Jinnat is an amalgamation of facts and fiction, weaving together various lives and how the conflict affects them.    

Originally written in English by Abhishek Majumdar, the writer’s previous play Rizwan, was based on poet Agha Shahid Ali’s collection of poems and had Kashmir as its backdrop. This time, he felt the need to pen down a deeper story. “After that play, I realised that the process would be incomplete unless I actually went to Kashmir and researched. I wanted to know more about the situation there,” says Abhishek who got the chance to work on this play, thanks to Royal Court and Bombay Rage theatre. The play, to be performed in the city, will be in Hindi and the writer feels it will help create a stronger connection.

Although the story is based in the picturesque valleys of Kashmir, it’s the breath of life that helps people connect to the characters. Abhishek continues, “Generally, what we hear about Kashmir are the numbers — how many people died, how many disappeared. But a lot of Kashmiris and soldiers have contributed to this play, I think there is a detail to it which illuminates more.” The Delhi-based writer spent two years, on and off, in the valley to assess the reality of the state. For people who don’t live in a conflict area, it’s difficult to realise the importance of small moments. “I think what happens in a place of such conflict, which has been going on for so many years, every emotion becomes immediate whether it is joy or fear. You could be having a great time in your house but, at any moment, somebody can be picked up for interrogation. You could be walking down the street normally and may suddenly find a sniper gun pointing at you. So this coexistence of danger, happiness and hope is something that marks
most places of Kashmir. That coexistence was a major revelation for me.”

As irony would have it, Abhishek’s play found itself amidst conflict and one of its performances was cancelled in Jaipur in February earlier this year. When questioned about the public outrage, Abhishek quickly asserts, “It wasn’t a public opposition, it was opposition by a right-wing fringe Hindutva group.” He further continues, “I don’t think these people represent the public, they represent the political opportunism. They are funded by a bigger organisation and this was a crime. These are not social differences, this is crime versus art and not art with a difference of opinion.” The play was to be performed on February 19, a few days after the Pulwama terror attack and Abhishek believes that it was the fringe group’s agenda to politicise the attack. He says, “A right-wing group that operates and gets funded every week, every month, for it, obviously, to politicise a terror attack is a great opportunity. Which I think is the worst thing about them. The worst thing is not that they stopped the play, but that they actually politicised and insulted this particular incident that happened in Pulwama.”  

—The play is scheduled for May 25 and 26, at G5A