Artists from across India come together to speak “for democracy and against hate”; announce nation-wide convention in February 2019

In an unprecedented move, artists from across India have come together under the banner of “Artists Unite!” and signed a declaration with the intention of reinforcing public traditions that speak “for democracy, and against hate”.

More than 450 signatories have come together on the issue and stated that the “recent history the politics of hate, division and exclusion has never been so dominant as we find it today, with a poisonous ideology which informs it deeply entrenched into the state and in governance.”

The signatories include a diverse list of well-known names including writers Arundhati Roy, Jerry Pinto, Shashi Deshpande, musician T M Krishna, film-makers Anand Patwardhan, Kabir Khan, Kiran Rao, Nandita Das, Saeed Akhtar Mirza, Shonali Bose, actors Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah, artists Atul Dodiya, Sudhir Patwardhan, Vivan Sundaram, dancers Astad Deboo, Mallika Sarabhai, poets Adil Jussawala, Ashok Vajpayi, theatre practitioners Mahesh Dattani, Mahesh Eklunchwar and Sunil Shanbag among others.

“Never before has hate been directed with such calculated intent against Muslims, Christians, Adivasis, Dalits, women, trans people, people in conflict areas and even children,” the declaration reads.

They said that “As artists and cultural practitioners we are and will continue to resist the politics of hate. We are and will continue to safeguard a culture that speaks of humanity and democracy; a culture that finds its echo in the fundamental rights enshrined in the Indian constitution.”

The “Artists Unite!” platform has also announced a national convention in Delhi on February 16 and 17, 2019, to be held simultaneously with similar events nationwide.

Here is the full text of the declaration:

In India’s recent history the politics of hate, division and exclusion has never been so dominant as we find it today, with a poisonous ideology which informs it deeply entrenched into the state and in governance. Never before has hate been directed with such calculated intent against Muslims, Christians, Adivasis, Dalits, women, trans people, people in conflict areas and even children.

The right to life, the right to love, food choices, cultural expression, language and histories are all under assault by this politics, which is at war with the people of India and their diverse cultures. Cultural and social life in India is being torn asunder by a toxic cocktail of propaganda, violence, censorship and distorted histories.

India is a uniquely rich repository of cultures that evolved out of long histories of philosophical, religious, literary, linguistic and artistic encounters. Those who wish to subsume politics into the imperatives of populist regression are attacking all aspects of this culture, which stands firmly in opposition to their idea of a monolithic and exclusionist India. New cultural narratives are being spawned by this ideology of hate, imbued with a sense of victimhood, revenge, aggression, and violence that has manifested itself in many forms, from horrific acts of lynching to the murderous attacks on writers and artists, the violent disruption of cultural events, destruction of educational and cultural institutions and the rewriting of school text-books. The emancipatory and spiritual possibilities of culture are being replaced by a language that relies solely on war cries, propaganda, and the images, metaphors, visions and sounds of supremacy.

The ongoing assault on culture is an attack on democracy. When cultural life is attacked democracy itself is in peril because of the disappearance of a language that articulates our shared spiritual and social lives, shared histories and shared memories. Democracy is not a majoritarian project to identify enemies and enforce uniformity of language, behaviour and culture. Democracy is the celebration of a collective will for peace, of living together with dignity and equality.

As artists and cultural practitioners we are and will continue to resist the politics of hate. We are and will continue to safeguard a culture that speaks of humanity and democracy; a culture that finds its echo in the fundamental rights enshrined in the Indian constitution. We recognize that the populist hate politics of today is riding the wave of disenchantment with democratic, secular political parties that have failed to deliver on the social democratic charter of the constitution. Pernicious inequalities based on class, caste, ethnicity, religion and gender not only pose a moral crisis for the country but they also reflect a political failure. Recent reports suggest that one percent of our population has appropriated 73 per cent of the wealth generated in 2017, a statistic that speaks about the state of poverty and desperation, as well as the nature of development that is being promoted in the country. An agrarian crisis is taking its toll on millions of farmers. Adivasis are being driven out of their forests. Workers lives have become ever more precarious. We are spiralling towards an ecological disaster on the back of an idea of development that has become synonymous with greed and profiteering.

We appeal to democratic, secular political parties to think anew of a politics rooted in economic and social justice; ecological and environmental sustainability; plurality and diversity; decentralization and devolution of power; ethics, love, compassion, tolerance and the rule of law.

As artists and cultural practitioners were-dedicate ourselves at this critical moment to defend a culture that speaks of love, equality and solidarity. We will fight hate with love. We will counter violence with peace. Through our images, speech, words, music and bodies we will resist the cultural destruction of India.

As we enter an election year, with strong indications that we will witness the cynical triggering of more violence and the fanning of communal hatred, the need for the broad ‘arts’ community to speak up has become more urgent than ever. To be signed by artists and litterateurs from across the country the declaration is a collective statement of resistance by artists, a commitment to create anti hate work, and an appeal to various democratic and secular political parties to commit to anti hate steps.

The above declaration is also a call for a national convention of artists to be held in Delhi on February 16 and 17, 2019, with simultaneous events in several other cities and towns.  The idea behind the convention is to weigh in with a collective voice, and with a creative energy that makes arts and literature a site of resistance to the hate politics that is sweeping the country. The convention will serve the twin purpose of providing an opportunity for artists and litterateurs to become part of a creative, collective process of resistance as well as create resources and forge connections with other resistance movements and collectives.

[Cover photo representational]