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ABSTRACT
In 2015, a coalition of artists in India launched a protest against the ruling establishment, returning their awards to the government in response to a series of attacks on minorities and dissident thinkers that had remained unacknowledged or insufficiently condemned by the state. Known as “Award Wapsi” (award return’ in Hindi), this was notably the first artist action of its kind in independent India, with artmakers from diverse domains participating in it. However, dancers were notably missing from the scene of this historic non-violent action. Those artists most invested in the idea of movement abandoned the protest movement. Moreover, this controversy elicited a fierce backlash, with a group of pro-government artists coordinating a counter-protest against their rebelling peers, with dancers represented among the ranks of those supporting the state. This paper considers the absence of dancers from oppositional organizing, and the presence of dancers in movements allied with the ruling regime, to think about the changing perceptions of political activism and the place of the artist in contemporary Indian society.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. See Sarkar and Sarkar, ‘Sacred Slaughter” for details.
2. This is true especially of killings tied to the cow issue. T. Singh, “The first lynching.”
3. Barstow and Raj, “Indian Writers Return Awards to Protest Government Silence on Violence.”
4. Roy, “I am returning my award,” and India Today, “To the point: Has writer”s protest rattled the government?”
5. Foster, “Choreographies of Gender”; Foster, “Choreographies of Protest”; Martin, “Towards a Kinaesthetics of Protest“; Martin, “A Precarious Dance, a Derivative Sociality”; Klein, ”The (Micro-)politics of Social Choreography.”
6. The phrase is from Lepecki”s edited volume, Of the Presence of the Body. See also Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, “Objects of Ethnography”; Schechner, Performance Theory; Klein & Noeth, eds., Emerging Bodies: The Performance of Worldmaking in Dance and Choreography; Schneider, Performing Remains.; Giannachi, Kaye, and Shanks, eds., Archaeologies of Presence: Art, Performance, and the Persistence of Being; Marchart, “Dancing Politics: Political Reflections on Choreography, Dance and Protest”; Foellmer, ”Choreography as a Medium of Protest,”; Prickett, ”Constrained Bodies: Dance, Social Justice, and Choreographic Agency”; Kowal, Siegmund, and Martin, ”Introduction” to the Oxford Handbook of Dance and Politics; and Taylor, ¡Presente! The Politics of Presence. While presence is important in some contexts of protest, in others, it”s the deliberate withdrawal of the body that counts–the withholding of presence, as in walkouts, boycotts, and strikes, as Gene Sharp delineates in The Politics of Non-Violent Action, Part 2: The Methods of Non-Violent Action. James Scott further notes in his work, Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts, how ”operating underground,” removing the body from the radar of power, can serve as an effective tactic of political subversion.
7. See Martin, Critical Moves: Dance Studies in Theory and Politics; DeFrantz Dancing Revelations: Alvin Ailey”s Embodiment of African American Culture; and Chatterjea, “Of Corporeal Rewritings, Translations, and the Politics of Difference in Dancing.”
8. Foster (in “Choreographies of Protest”) and Goldman (in I Want to Be Ready: Improvised Dance as a Practice of Freedom) carefully detail the connections between choreography and oppositional movements as they consider what it means for activists to put their bodies on the line. Arendt develops the idea of people “acting in concert” to claim political power in The Human Condition.
9. See McKenzie, Perform or Else: From Discipline to Performance, and Jackson, Social Works: Performing Art, Supporting Publics, for nuanced discussions of the construction of the artist as a transgressive figure.
10. On this point, see especially Manning Ecstasy and the Demon: The Dances of Mary Wigman; Franko, “Dance and the Political: States of Exception”; and Franko, The Fascist Turn in the Dance of Serge Lifar.
11. Lepecki, “Choreopolice and Choreopolitics.”
12. For details see Mouffe, On the Political.
13. Gudavarthy, India After Modi.
14. The RSS emerged in 1925 as a volunteer organization. Its founder, Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar (1889–1940), is quoted as saying: “The Hindu culture is the life-breath of Hindusthan [India]. If is therefore clear that if Hindusthan is to be protected, we should first nourish the Hindu culture. If the Hindu culture perishes in Hindusthan itself, and if the Hindu society ceases to exist, it will be hardly appropriate to refer to the mere geographic entity that remains as Hindusthan. Mere geographical lumps do not make a nation. The entire society should be in such a vigilant and organized condition that no one would dare to cast an evil eye on any of our points of honor.” For more, see the RSS website at: https://www.rss.org//Encyc/2012/10/22/rss-vision-and-mission.html
The BJP was founded in 1980 as a formal political party; its mission states that it was created to promote “cultural nationalism.“ Materials on its website describe its history and commitments: ”Taking its genes from RSS and the erstwhile Bharatiya Jan Sangh, BJP is dedicated to the country”s unity, integrity, its inherent uniqueness, social strength, individual character and cultural exclusivity that have been the characteristic of India.[…] It believes the Hindu identity and culture is the foundation of the county.” Bharatiya Janata Party, http://www.apbjp.org/eng/2015/06/welcome-to-bjp-website/
15. Sampath, “Who Is an anti-national?”; JNU Teacher”s Association (JNUTA), What the Nation Really Needs to Know: The JNU Nationalism Lectures.
16. Importantly, in the subcontinent, “secularism” refers to a pluralist ethos and the state recognition of the equality of all religions in public life, in contrast to the prevailing Western conception of secularism as the separation of religion and state. See Bhargava, ed., Secularism and Its Critics.
17. See Sharma, Hindutva: Exploring the Idea of Hindu Nationalism; Savarkar, Essentials of Hindutva; Basu, Hindutva as Political Monotheism; Deepak, India, that is Bharat: Coloniality, Civilization, Constitution; Thapar, Voices of Dissent: An Essay.
18. For example, according to a Morning Consult poll of 28 July, 2022, Prime Minister Modi leads the list of world leaders in terms of popularity, holding a 75% approval rating among adult Indian residents.
19. For example, the state had quelled non-violent protests against the 2019 Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which uses religion as a determinant for providing a pathway to citizenship for migrants and refugees fleeing certain countries surrounding India (see The Wire, “Shaheen Bagh: Activists Say Right to Protest on Streets Is a Must to Save Democracy”).
20. A Hinduvta activist, Sanjay Sadvilkar, gave a witness statement alleging that Dr. Virendrasinh Tawade coordinated the killings of Dabholkar and Pansare with several accomplices. M.M. Kalburgi”s wife, Umadevi, recently identified Ganesh Miskin as her husband”s killer. All of the accused are linked to the Sanatana Sanstha. Johnson TA, “MM Kalburgi”s wife identifies man who shot him,“; Banerjee, “ Govind Pansare murder”; and Krishnan, ”5 agencies, multiple arrests.”
21. He did this in a Hindi-language post on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/udayprakash2009/posts/10155930568575231?fref=nf
The English translation is from News Minute, “Hindi Writer Uday Prakash to Return Sahitya Akademi Award over Kalburgi”s Murder.”
22. See The Wire, “Akademi Breaks Silence,“ and Sethi and Aradhak, “Twist to Award Wapsi.” See also the explanation of the protest against Sahitya Akademi provided in Indian Express by Bhardwaj, “The Sahitya Akademi row.”
23. The Guardian, “Hindu Mob Kills Muslim Man after Rumours He Was Eating Beef”; Miller, “A mob in India just dragged a man from his home and beat him to death–for eating beef”; David, “Bishada, Dadri”; Singh, “The first lynching.”
24. The open letter was published in Caravan magazine on 5 October 2015.
25. Austin, How To Do Things with Words.
26. Schechner, Performance Theory.
27. The statement was released on 27 October 2015. Additionally, writers Shashi Deshpande, Aravind Malagatti, P.K. Parakkadvu, and K. Satchidanandan resigned from their Sahitya Akademi positions in solidarity with the protesters. Kartikeya, “Nearly 40 awards returned during Award Wapsi, says govt.
28. Roy, “I am returning my award because I”m ashamed of what”s happening in India.“ See also Eburne, Elias, and Lee, “Rules of Engagement.” Diana Taylor agrees with Roy’s concept, noting that ”[p]erformance, for some, is the continuation of politics by other means” – in this case, the protest being the performance. Taylor, Performance, 147.
29. Beshty, “How Important Is Art as a Form of Protest? A Survey of More Than 50 Respondents from Over 30 Countries.”
30. Press Trust of India, “Theatre Artist Maya Krishna Rao returns Sangeet Natak Akademi.”
31. Mangaldas explained, “I would not like to accept the award since it has been bestowed by a state Government whose policies I do not agree with. […] How can one celebrate true art through violence?” Kalra, “Aditi Mangaldas declines Gujarat award.” Deboo followed Mangaldas, writing in a letter to the Gujarat Sangeet Natak Akademi, “the violence perpetrated upon the people of Gujarat under this Government leaves me with no choice except to disassociate myself from all its actions.” Press Trust of India, “Now, choreographer Astad Deboo rejects award.”
32. Nagpaul, “How Artists and Individuals Creatively Resisted Emergency“; Bharucha, Chandralekha: Woman Dance Resistance. See also Joan Erdman”s account of how in the late 1970s, dancers banded together and advocated for better support from the Sangeet Natak Akademi. Erdman, ”Who Should Speak for the Performing Arts? The Case of the Delhi Dancers.”
33. Purkayastha, Indian Modern Dance, Feminism, and Transnationalism.
34. A writer, choreographer, composer, and dramatist, Tagore won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913 and received the knighthood from the British government in 1915, renouncing it in 1919. His contributions to the world of dance have been amply documented by Dutt and Sarkar Munsi in Engendering Performance: Indian Women Performers in Search of an Identity; Purkayastha in Indian Modern Dance, Feminism, and Transnationalism; and Chakraborty in ”Dancing Against the Nation?”
35. The letter was written from Calcutta and dated 31 May 1919. Tagore, “Request of Sir Rabindranath Tagore that he may be relieved of his title of knighthood in view of the policy followed by Government in dealing with recent troubles in the Panjab.”
36. Deboo indicated his general support for protest gestures without specifically mentioning Award Wapsi, but conjuring its oppositional spirit, as he dedicated a concert to students demonstrating against government actions in 2020: “I have never been an artist of the government. […] Unfortunately, dancers have never been vocal. In my own way, I try to speak.“ Vellat, ”The Enchanting Web of Astad Deboo.”
37. India Today, “To the point.”
38. The Hindu, “Awards Will Not Be Returned, Says Mallika Sarabhai.”
39. Ratnam, “#AWARDWAPSI.”
40. I thank Susan Foster for drawing my attention to this point (personal conversation, 12 November 2020).
41. The march took place on 7 November 2015. Bhardwaj, “Anupam Kher-led March Dubs Artistes “Traitors,” Leaders Get Audience with PM Modi.” One poster for the event read: “Returning of awards by 41 people cannot stand for the beliefs of 125 crore Indians. […] We condemn their actions and ideology. They have done their bit … it”s time for us to stand for the pride of our country.” Posted by @srirambjp on Twitter.com.
42. Free Press Journal, “ “Nationalist” artists now to protest “Award Wapsi” “; Telegraph Bureau, “ “Awards wapsi” baiter to head culture trust.”; Risbood, “Hema Malini: Award Wapsi Is Initiated by Opposition to Create Problems for the Modi Government.”
43. Sudhir, “Kamal Haasan Says Returning Awards to Fight Intolerance Is “Futile,” Economic Times, “India Always Had Intolerance, Wouldn”t Return hard-earned Awards: Ruskin Bond.“ For details on Hasan”s dance background and the integration of his art in his cinema, see Rangan, ”Kamal Hasan talks about how music came into his life.”
44. See note 37 above.
45. Venugopal, “Have Evidence to Show Award Wapsi Was Politically Motivated, Not Spontaneous: Former Sahitya Akademi Chief.”
46. Naxalism emerged in the late 1960s as a Maoist-inspired insurgent movement, led by peasants, tribal communities, and class-oppressed groups that advocated violent resistance against the bourgeoisie and the state. The movement derives its name from Naxalbari in north Bengal where the uprising began, and it soon attracted urban supporters; it was quickly outlawed. This has led to the idea of the “urban Maoist“ as a trope of right-wing discourse. As Harsh Mander explains, describing raids on human rights activists in August 2018: “Urban Maoists are intellectuals who are allegedly overground sympathisers for Maoist insurgents, giving them legitimacy and ideological support. This invective has been increasingly applied to everybody who stands to the left of Indian politics and in support of the rights of disadvantaged people. Noisy right-wing television channels, which have emerged as propaganda arms of the ruling government, described all those arrested as Urban Naxals.” Mander, ”Urban Maoists: In Modi”s India, if you are in the right you must be on the left.”
47. See note above 37.
48. Express News Service, “Arun Jaitley in Facebook post: Writers returning awards a “manufactured revolt” “; Press Trust of India, “Writers returning awards a “manufactured revolt”: Arun Jaitley.”
49. Sampath, “In a spin over intolerance“; Rajan, ”Award-wapsi mela is in India is exposing the so-called intellectual morons.”
50. Butler, The Force of Non-Violence.
51. Wasow, “Agenda Seeding: How 1960s Black Protests Moved Elites, Public Opinion, and Voting.”
52. Sharp, How Non-Violent Struggle Works.
53. The BJP website mentions ”Justice for all and appeasement of none” as a guiding principle.
54. The Hindu, “Those returning awards maligning India”s image,” ; Zee News, “Intolerance issue is hurting country”s reputation: PM Modi tells Anupam Kher.”
55. Modi, for instance, made the following comments in Hindi in the run-up to the 2019 elections, invoking ”Award Wapsi” four years after the protest erupted, indicating its entrenchment as a term of ridicule: ”Uske baad Award Wapsi gang aayi. Koi ghatna ho gaya hai, Award Wapsi gang maidan mein aa jati hai. Maine Sarkar mein puchha yaar, kya kya wapas aaya zara batao toh. Akhbar mein aata hai, maine toh kahi dekha nahi. Na unko rupiye mile award ke saath, wo bhi wapas nahi aaye, lekin ye award wapsi gang, ab jaise hi koi chunav ya ghatna puri ho gayi wo Award Wapsi gang wapas phir ghafr mein jaake so jati hai. (Then came the Award Wapsi gang. Whenever an untoward incident happens, the Award Wapsi gang begins operating. So, I asked the government what all did they return, since I only heard about this in newspapers. They haven”t returned the award money that is given with the same. This Award Wapsi gang only comes up during some untoward incident or the elections. After that, they go back to sleep.)” Pandey, ”PM Modi takes a royal dig at the Award Wapasi gang and opposition.” Hindi transliteration and English translation in original.
56. India Today, “To the point”; transcribed by Anurima Banerji.
57. Times Now, “Akademi Exodus: Can Artists Dismiss Anupam Kher”s Attack? the Newshour Debate”; transcribed by Anurima Banerji.
58. Kowal, Siegmund, and Martin, “Introduction,“ 17; Franko, ”Towards a Choreo-Political Theory of Articulation.”
59. The parlaying of primarily Hindu paradigms and narratives in much of Indian classical dance is an example of this tendency.
60. Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison.
61. Chakraborty, “From Interculturalism to Historicism.”
62. Foucault, Society Must Be Defended: Lectures at the Collège de France, 1975–76, 241.
63. Taylor, ¡Presente! The Politics of Presence, 12.
64. Ibid., 4.
65. Martin, Critical Moves, 61.
66. Martin, “Dance as Social Movement“; see also his “Dance and Its Others,“ ”Dancing through Crisis,” and ”Between Intervention and Utopia: Dance Politics.”
67. See also Prakash, ““Failure” of Contemporary Dance to Become Political.”
68. Williams, Marxism and Literature, 212.
69. Klein, “Dancing Politics: Worldmaking in Dance and Choreography,” 25.
70. Mouffe, “Artistic Activism and Agonistic Spaces.”
71. See note 11 above.
72. Arendt, The Promise of Politics, 126 (my italics).