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Uses of Culture in Political Struggles: A Reading of Jana Natya Mandali
USES OF CULTURE IN POLITICAL STRUGGLES:
A READING OF JANA NATYA MANDALI
ANVITA DULLURI
II YEAR, B.A LL.B (HONS).
NATIONAL LAW SCHOOL OF INDIA UNIVERSITY, BANGALORE.
1
Uses of Culture in Political Struggles: A Reading of Jana Natya Mandali
ABSTRACT:
The central theme of this paper is to examine the use of culture as an effective alternative
medium to achieve political and economic transformation of the society. It seeks to do so by
studying it in the backdrop of the steady rise of the Naxal movement in post-independent India,
at a time when severe agrarian crisis pervaded the country. Revolution, that was considered
indispensable to fight a comprador economy aimed at “development”, took different turns under
the leadership of various Left parties in India, whose ideologies were highly influenced by the
political conditions prevailing at the global level at the time. In this context it studies the
distinguishing attribute of the People’s War Group, a militant group spreading revolution in the
regions of Andhra Pradesh which paid keen attention to the cultures of the communities that they
sought to mobilize. It inquires into the unique manner in which this group, through its cultural
front channels radical ideals to the masses through diverse cultural forms that are indigenous to
them. This is done through an analysis of the work of Gaddar, the co-founder of the cultural
group, Jana Natya Mandali, who went on to become a legendary phenomenon through his
contributions to the cause of the Naxal movement. Such an inquiry is carried out with a view to
draw one’s attention to the intimate relation that the cultures of these marginalized sections of
people share with their lives and struggles, thereby pointing out the possibility of an alternate
approach to understanding the problems of these classes.
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Uses of Culture in Political Struggles: A Reading of Jana Natya Mandali
I- POLITICS OF STRIFE
INTRODUCTION:
“Philosophers have hitherto only interpreted the world in various ways, the point is to change
it,” said Marx in his renowned Eleventh Thesis of Feurbach.1 The late 20th century witnessed
phenomenal attempts to bring about a transformation in the world. The outbreak of liberation
movements and the self-determination movements that occurred among the colonies against the
oppressive regime of imperialist forces across the world were all indicators of such a major
transformation.
In India, the growing discontent and outrage against the blatant oppression of the colonial
hegemony had reached its apogee with the unjust policies of the British during the Second World
War. The onslaught of the German fascist forces on the Soviet Union, the biggest representative
of socialism in the world, the outbreak of people’s movements in China created favorable
conditions for the radical transformation of the society in India. Under these circumstances, the
line of militant struggle initiated by the Communist Party in India against the imperialist forces
gained popular support.2 Crucial among their militant attempts to overthrow the bourgeois
government instituted by them on the eve of independence are the agrarian and peasant struggles
that exploded in the Indian society.3
Peasants in the Indian society are identified to be the agricultural laborers, sharecroppers,
landless coolies etc., who closely border on the historically and socially disadvantaged sections
such as the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, other backward classes and largely women.4The
period between 1945 and 1947 was witness to a variety of uprisings ranging from the sections of
the landless peasants and agricultural labourers in the Indian subcontinent.5This sharp rise in the
agrarian struggles could be attributed to the vast changes in the socio-economic situation in India
1
K. Marx, THESES ON FEURBACH, Vol. 1, 13-15 (F. Engels ed., W. Lough tr., (1888)).
Debal K. Singha Roy, Peasant Movements in Contemporary India: Emerging Forms of Domination and Resistance
40 (52), ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY 5505, 5505 (2005).
3
B. Chandra, A. Mukherjee et al, INDIA AFTER INDEPENDENCE, 421 (2008).
4
Roy, supra note 2 at 5505.
5
Chandra, supra note 3 at 421- 422.
2
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Uses of Culture in Political Struggles: A Reading of Jana Natya Mandali
after its liberation from the Colonial rule.6 Post-Independent India was characterized by a
severely stratified society owing to a grossly exploitative intermediary system of land tenancy
and occupation. As a result, demands for progressive reforms and abolishment of the
intermediary feudalism to improve the conditions of the peasantry rose significantly.7
The entire range of agrarian revolts in India, from the Telangana peasant uprising when India
was still under the British rule, to the Naxalite and Maoist movements from the sixties can be
categorized into radical institutionalized and non-institutionalized movements. Such uprisings
were
spearheaded
by
the
revolutionary political
organizations,
among
which
the
(institutionalized) Communist Party of India was the most popular. The course of several of
these movements across different parts of the country is effective in tracing the series of changes
that took place in the agricultural and socio-economic scenario in post-independent India.8
The left movements that were organized by these political organizations derived their ideology
and their radical outlook of the Indian society (apart from Soviet Marxism) from the Chinese
revolution of 1948 led by the Communist Party of China (CPC).9 The influence of the principles
advocated by the Communist Party of China under the leadership of Mao Tsetung on the
agrarian revolts throughout India can be clearly discerned in their objectives and their approach
towards a revolutionary transformation of the Indian society. The manner in which this
transformation had been carried out in the post-independent Indian society will be examined in
the next section.
THE TELANGANA PEASANT UPRISING:
The communist revolution in India underwent a significant change under the influence of the
principles of Mao Tsetung. The theory of New Democracy popularized by the Chinese
6
Chandra, supra note 3 at 421- 422.
Roy, supra note 2 at 5505.
8
Roy, supra note 2 at 5505.
9
DeepankarBasu, Debarshi Das, The Maoist Movement in India: Some Political Economy Conditions 13 (3),
JOURNAL OF AGRARIAN CHANGE, 365, 366 (2013).
7
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Uses of Culture in Political Struggles: A Reading of Jana Natya Mandali
revolution in 1948 under the leadership of Mao entered India through the peasant uprising in the
Telangana region.10
The peasants in this region suffered from extreme feudalism under the vetti system of the
deshmukhs and the jagirdars who owned thousands of acres of agricultural land.11 In order to
relieve the peasants and the tribals of their plight, the Communists organized them in the form of
guerilla groups called dalams against the oppressive taxes of the feudal lords and the government
under the Nizams.12 These groups formed bases by attacking the feudal troops or factions in
particular regions.
Such peasant mobilizations soon spread all across the region under the guidance of the
Communists who powerfully drove the liberation of the Telangana region from the autocratic
rule of the Nizams and its integration with the Indian Union. This strong anti-Nizam upsurge
resulted in the Indian army troops to enter the region in order to integrate the region through
Police Action.13 Though this action had successfully resulted in the end of the Nizam rule, the
Communist groups in the region decided to continue their struggle against the government under
Nehru, which they believed to be pro-imperialist and bourgeoisie. Thus, they remained in the
forests and launched an attack on the Indian Army.14 The Telangana arms struggle was brutally
repressed by the Indian Army.
The movement of the Communist activists continued till 1951 when the Communist Party of
India (CPI) at the center under the influence of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU)
changed its line.15 It believed in a peaceful transition of India into a socialist state. This gave rise
to internal conflicts within the CPI which resulted in the birth of the Communist Party of India
(Marxist) [CPI (M)] with revisionist tendencies in 1964.16 Therefore a split in the fundamental
10
P. Sundarayya, Telangana People's Armed Struggle, 1946-1951. Part One: Historical Setting 1(7), SOCIAL
SCIENTIST 3, 8 (1973).
11
Sundarayya, supra note 11 at 9.
12
Chandra, supra note 3 at 421- 422.
13
Chandra, supra note 3 at 421- 422.
14
Sundarayya, supra note 11 at 16.
15
NAXALBARIAND AFTER: A FRONTIER ANTHOLOGY, Vol. 2, Editor’s note (Samar Sen, Debabrata Panda et al ed.,
(1978)).
16
ParthaMukherji,Study of Social Conflicts: Case of Naxalbari Peasant Movement,22 (38), ECONOMIC AND
POLITICAL WEEKLY 1607, 1610 (1987).
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Uses of Culture in Political Struggles: A Reading of Jana Natya Mandali
ideology of the Communist Party occurred under the effect of Mao’s principles of New
Democracy and agricultural revolution.
NAXALBARI MOVEMENT:
The genesis of the Naxalite movement in India demanding a transformation in the Indian society
is inevitably associated with the Naxalbari movement in 1967.17 By then, the United Communist
Party at the Center had already suffered a split into the Communist Party of India- Marxist (CPIM). Following the historical peasant uprising in Naxalbari, a village in West Bengal a further
split occurred in ideology within the CPI (M). This violent movement of 1967 was led by Charu
Majumdar who became a legendary revolutionary figure.18 His famous “Eight Documents” went
on to form the ideological basis for the formation of the Communist Party of India (MarxistLeninist) [CPI (M-L)].19 Through his writings he advocated peasant revolution and opposition of
Revisionism. Therefore, such growing contradictions within the CPI (M) party ultimately
resulted in a split and a Declaration issued by the revolutionaries of the CPI(M) who went on to
form the All India Coordination Committee of Revolutionaries (AICCR) in 1967 under the
leadership of CharuMajumdar.20
The Naxalbari uprising was brutally suppressed through police action supported by the United
Front of the Communist Party in West Bengal. The major issues of contention between the
AICCR and the Communist party were regarding the latter’s denial of people’s revolution a
universal form of struggle in countries like India. It further abandoned agrarian revolution as the
principle line of their party. At this juncture the AICCR under Charu Majumdar constituted itself
into a party which led to the birth of CPI (ML) in 1969.21Armed struggle and non-participation in
parliamentary elections were their main principles.
CONTRADICTION BETWEEN CPI(M-L) AND THE ANDHRA MAOISTS:
The line of revolutionaries, influenced by Mao’s principles (Maoists), under the influence of the
leadership of CharuMajumdar were of the belief that the primary condition for the formation of a
17
Id.
Supra note 16.
19
Supra note 16.
20
ShreyVerma, The Far Reaching Consequences of the Naxalite Problem in India: Understanding the Maoist
Problem, 4 (Rakshak Foundation (2011)).
21
Marcus F. Franda, India's Third Communist Party 9 (11), ASIAN SURVEY 797, 797 (1969).
18
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Uses of Culture in Political Struggles: A Reading of Jana Natya Mandali
revolutionary party is to bring about a mass mobilization in the countryside and not merely
gathering of like-minded Marxists who thought along the lines of Mao.22 They believed that
conditions were conducive for a revolution in the countryside and a strong party to organize and
guide the revolutionary ideals was the only requirement to take the revolution to a higher level.23
However, the ideals of the group of Maoists in the Andhra region (following the tribal movement
in Srikakulam from 1957-67) differed. They advocated that the idea that revolutionary activity
must precede the formation of a party but it can also be formed in the course of the revolution.
They also experienced major differences in terms of their approach towards a people’s
revolution.24
PEOPLE’S WAR GROUP:
The Naxal movement from the peasant uprising in 1967 underwent major changes in terms of
ideology and objectives. Since the agrarian revolution of the Naxalbari, the movement had taken
different turns among which the birth of the People’s War Group (PWG) marks a significant
change or a reorientation of the movement.25 With the death of Charu Majumdar who had been
the sole force behind the revolutionary fervor of the CPI (M-L) branch, and the brutal
suppression of the Naxalbari movement in West Bengal, the party had been deprived of a
formidable leadership and passed into the hands of less dynamic leaders in West Bengal.26 Under
them, the party ideology underwent transformation along revisionist lines and adopted a more
moderate stance favoring parliamentary process.27
This was strongly condemned by the members who still stood for the revolutionary ideology
advocated by CharuMajumdar. Subsequently, the post-emergency (1974-77) period witnessed
the birth of the People’s War Group (PWG), breaking away from the CPI (ML) Liberation (the
revisionist branch of the CPI(M-L)). This group was led by a powerful Naxal leader from
22
Id at 800.
Verma, supra note 21 at 5-8.
24
Franda, supra note 22 at 800.
25
RamachandraGuha, Adivasis, Naxalites and Indian Democracy 42 (32), ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY 3305,
3309 (2007).
26
Supra note 16.
27
Supra note 16.
23
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Uses of Culture in Political Struggles: A Reading of Jana Natya Mandali
Andhra Pradesh- Kondapalli Seetaramaiah.28 The ideology and objectives adopted by them
sought to preserve and propagate the revolutionary ideals of the original CPI (M-L) group.
They believed that the post-independence India was semi-feudal and semi-colonial in nature.29
According to them, the Indian society is encumbered by the forces of feudalism, colonialism and
comprador bureaucracy which are always in conflict with the betterment of the broad masses of
people. These obstacles could be eliminated and overthrown only through a “New Democratic
revolution” as envisaged by Mao Tsetung. They believed that the New Democratic society could
be established through an agrarian revolution.30
Another crucial aspect of their strategy, which is absent in the ideology of the earlier Naxal
Groups, is their assertion and strong support to the regional subnational movements.31 The
possible reasons for incorporating this idea as a part of their strategy could be to achieve their
objective of capturing power by weakening the Indian state and building a federation of national
people’s republics in its place.32
As the chances of obtaining recourse through elections and Parliamentary system of Democracy
(a path chosen by the CPI (ML) Liberation wing) seemed bleak and disillusioning, the PWG had
begun to increasingly gain popularity among the peasants and the working classes. The
revolutionary path of a protracted people’s war advocated by the PWG in order to build a mass
organization instead of a political democratic front, proved a lot more effective in attracting and
mobilizing the masses.33This strategy was in stark contrast to the line of thought of the
Liberation wing which began to closely resemble the already existing political set up of the
Communist Party at the Center.34 The radical ideology of the Naxalites under the influence of
Mao’s teachings saw no other alternative, in order to achieve the revolutionary transformation of
28
Verma, supra note 21 at 5-8.
Verma, supra note 21 at 5-8.
30
Verma, supra note 21 at 9.
31
Chandra, supra note 3 at 421- 422.
32
Chandra, supra note 3 at 421- 422.
33
Verma, supra note 21 at 5-8.
34
Verma, supra note 21 at 5-8.
29
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Uses of Culture in Political Struggles: A Reading of Jana Natya Mandali
the Indian society as envisaged by them, than a violent and aggressive confrontation of the
masses with the oppressive classes.35
Such critical reflections on the transformation of the post-independence Indian society that arose
from the multitudes and the common masses of Indian life resulted in the rise of a revolutionary
consciousness among them. The significant role played by the culture (in the form of song
compositions, performances and narratives) of these masses in bringing about such a
transformation and in the building of such a consciousness is indisputable in this regard. The
work of culture that the Naxal movement generated needs special attention. The moulding of
these cultural forms of the diverse subaltern communities, in order to communicate the powerful
political ideals of Marx and Mao to the grassroots of India and inflame revolutionary
consciousness among them, is truly remarkable and is worthy of a proper inquiry. In this context,
the immense work of culture rendered by the cultural front of the People’s War Group in Andhra
Pradesh, called the Jana Natya Mandali will be analyzed here.
35
Verma, supra note 21 at 5-8.
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Uses of Culture in Political Struggles: A Reading of Jana Natya Mandali
II- THE WORK OF CULTURE
BIRTH OF JANA NATYA MANDALI (JNM):
The use of people’s culture where revolution is meant to seep into the grassroots of the society is
an idea that has been employed by the Left parties earlier. The Indian People’s Theater
Association (IPTA) formed in 1942 functioned as the cultural wing of the Communist Party for a
long time. This became an inspiration for the formation of Safdar Hashmi’s Jana Natya Manch
(Janam) in 1973, a radical theater group in Delhi, with the motto of taking politics to the
people.36 The work of these groups has gone a long way in instilling revolutionary consciousness
among the masses (though with the sad and immense price of brutal killing of Hashmi).
The enormous success of the People’s War Group in Andhra Pradesh can be attributed to the
work of cultural activism produced by their cultural arm, the Jana Natya Mandali (JNM) or the
People’s Dance Troupe.37 Initially when this cultural troupe came into existence, it was called
the Art Lovers Forum.38 It was started by B. Narsing Rao, a reputed filmmaker. In 1972, it turned
into the Jana Natya Mandali composed of several prominent cultural activists.39This group was
inspired by Praja Natya Mandali, a similar troupe that played a significant role in sustaining the
revolution during the Telangana armed peasant revolt in the 1940s.40
This troupe aimed at developing novel and creative methods of using the resources available to
them in order to articulate the plight of the oppressed masses at the margins of the society. They
sought to transform and create culture from among the existing genres by drawing upon them.41
The work produced by this group distinctly reflects as its central theme- the problems of life of
the landless and tribals, land and liberty of the people. In this attempt to create a new culture they
consciously eschew the practice of drawing upon the imperialist cultural forms or their
36
A.Ghosh, A HISTORY OF THE JANA NATYAMANCH: PLAYS FOR THE PEOPLE, Foreword by G. P. Deshpande (2012).
R. Guha, INDIA AFTER GANDHI: THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST DEMOCRACY, 733 (2007).
38
D. V. Rao, Risking Spaces: The Politics and the Pain of Singing inPERFORMERS AND THEIR ARTS: FOLK, POPULAR
AND CLASSICAL GENRES IN CHANGING INDIA, 198, 200 (S. Charsley and L. N. Kadekar, 2006).
39
Id.
40
D. V. Rao, Mnemosigning: Ecstasies in Pain in SIGNPOSTS: GENDER ISSUES IN POST-INDEPENDENCE INDIA, 359,
373 (R. S.Rajan, 1999).
41
Rao, supra note 39 at 197.
37
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Uses of Culture in Political Struggles: A Reading of Jana Natya Mandali
ideology.42The mainstream art and literary forms (such as cinema, museum exhibits) are avoided
by them. It is the cultural forms of the village peasants and tribal communities that they wish to
examine and employ as a medium to address the problems of these subaltern communities.
Through these forms they seek to channel and inculcate the revolutionary ideals among them.
The members of the troupe involved in producing the cultural work, drew from numerous
sources and cultural forms of the people. Travelling extensively through the villages, they
interacted with the local people. They studied the cultural forms that prevailed among these
people, the manner in which they made use of them in order to articulate their pain, suffering,
anguish and grief at the loss of their loved ones in the war with the ruling classes. They went into
the forests and learned about the lives of the tribals and how their culture featured in their daily
lives in the form of song compositions, dance traditions and narratives.43
Among the sources that they drew from, the performances of the “beggar” communities in the
villages were significant.44 These communities were known for their tradition of receiving alms
from their respective communities by performing songs, dances and narrating their genealogical
stories. The JNM group would invite these performers, listen to their song compositions and
drawing from them, compose their own songs. They also derived tunes for their compositions
from the performances of the village kalakars.
Yet another crucial source that cannot be ignored while considering the work of the JNM is the
tunes of the women who were agricultural laborers.45 The songs that formed a part of their daily
work in the fields were anonymous. They sprung from the memory of long historical tradition,
their origins unknown. But these rhythms had the potential to communicate in the most powerful
manner, their plight, their anxieties, their fears and their joys through the force of affection.
The tunes and themes that were thus gathered by the JNM from the sources discussed above
were used by the creative artists to mould them into compositions filled with revolutionary
fervor.46 Being the cultural wing of the PWG, every composition made by the group was then
42
Guha, supra note 38 at 733.
Rao, supra note 39 at 197-200.
44
Rao, supra note 39 at 197-200.
45
Rao, supra note 39 at 197-200.
46
Rao, supra note 41 at 373.
43
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Uses of Culture in Political Struggles: A Reading of Jana Natya Mandali
sent to the party leaders for review. After receiving the approval of the party cadre, cultural
activists would perform them in public. The performers of the group would then journey through
the villages and sing these songs, instilling the revolutionary ideals of the party among them. In
this manner, the party reached out to the people and organized them into army groups. These
groups would then continue their journey through the villages to spread the ideology and agenda
of the party that is, bringing about politico-economic transformation in the Indian society by
overthrowing the oppressive rule of the feudal land lords and establishing the rule of the peasants
and workers.47
At a time when the PWG was banned (in the 1980 and 90s), JNM as its cultural extension had
achieved remarkable success in spreading its ideals in the countryside in the state of Andhra
Pradesh. Unlike the violent activity carried out by the Naxal cadres of the party, this group
wielded culture as its most prominent weapon to carry the aims and ways of revolution to the
people who suffered the most under the existing system. The ideals of Marx infused with the
teachings of Mao were incorporated into the elaborate cultural forms that were so closely woven
into the lives of these masses.48
The inventive technique adopted by the People’s War Group, of using the cultural resources of
the masses as a means to raise critical questions regarding the survival of these beleaguered
sections of the Indian society calls for an inquiry into the kind of work produced by the group. 49
In this context the work of one legendary figure who went on to become a global phenomenon
through the unique contributions he made to the cultural work of the group, shall be examined.
47
Rao, supra note 39 at 197-200.
Rao, supra note 41 at 373.
49
Rao, supra note 39 at 197-200.
48
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Uses of Culture in Political Struggles: A Reading of Jana Natya Mandali
III-THE SINGING SUBALTERN: THE WORK OF GADDAR
Gummadi Vittal Rao, popularly known as Gaddar, is one of the founding members of the JNM
group. He hailed from a Dalit laborer’s family from a remote Telangana village.50 He got
introduced to Ambedkar’s ideas on caste through his father on whose insistence he continued his
studies. He was exposed to the rural song cultures of the village communities through his
mother.51 These tunes from the age-old traditions, rendered in the local idiom and inseparable
from their daily lives, had indelible impact on Gaddar.52
It was when he was pursuing his studies at Hyderabad that he met Narsing Rao, the co-founder
of Art Lovers Forum that went on to become JNM.53 Intrigued by the questions raised by him in
the course of his lectures, Gaddar decided to join the Forum. This acquaintance of Gaddar
transformed his life as he came into contact with influential artists and poets such as Sri Sri,
Nazar, Suddala Hanumanthu to name a few who played an important role in sustaining the Left
movements in Andhra Pradesh.54 His tryst with the Naxalites led him back to the villages which
afforded him an opportunity to understand the post-independence Indian society through the
countryside. Consequently, he plunged into the Naxal movement and dedicated himself to
rendering the cultural work of the party.55He was shot five times from a close range in 1997 and
today he survives with one bullet still intact in his body.
As a singer, composer of songs and a performer, he captured the lives and struggles of the
marginalized people in his songs.56 His work involves the blending in of the political with the
everyday social lives of the people which he seeks to do by emulating their cultural forms. The
most significant feature of his work is the connection he establishes between oral and written
50
Guha, supra note 38 at 733.
D. V. Rao, Performative Communism inTHE UNTOLD CHARMINAR: WRITINGS ON HYDERABAD, 287, 289 (S.
Imam,2008).
52
Interestingly, the name Gaddar was consciously adopted from the other insurgent movement – the Ghadar Party –
which in the 1920s aimed at overthrowing the British imperialism by violent means, from, D. V. RaoWriting Orally:
Decolonization from BelowinPOSITIONS: EAST ASIA CULTURES CRITIQUE(1999).
53
Rao, supra note 52at 290.
54
Rao, supra note 52at 291.
55
Rao, supra note 52at 290.
56
Rao, supra note 39 at 199.
51
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Uses of Culture in Political Struggles: A Reading of Jana Natya Mandali
cultures.57 His songs deal with the illiterate masses, communities that preserve and perpetuate
their culture and tradition through memory. These unheeded and undiscovered communities
receive an outlet through his songs.
Gaddar emerges as a singer and performer from the Dalit community, a community that has been
constantly quelled and subjugated by the dominant classes.58 His work can thus be perceived as
an exemplification of the voice of the subaltern by a subaltern himself, a form of knowledge that
is often dismissed as subjective or skewed.59The subaltern reflects and sings eloquently – though
out of pain –here. The tunes and themes of his songs are all borrowed from the song cultures of
various communities. Composed in this manner, he returns these borrowed tunes to the
communities. Thus, reiteration forms a crucial aspect of his work.60
In the process of this repetition however, the tunes and the refrains that he borrows undergo a
transformation in his hands. This technique allows him to develop numerous themes for the same
tunes. Hence “[t]here is no closure to people’s song”, he asserts. 61 Learning and sharing are the
two major features central to the song compositions of Gaddar. He returns to the community
what he learned from it after giving it his own, unique signature. The process of learning and
receiving will always remain incomplete and infinite as the sources from which he draws are
unlimited.62 Therefore, his song weaves through heterogeneous communities and reaches out to
people ranging from agricultural laborers to bureaucrats, students to policemen and Dalits to
Brahmins, amalgamating and moving them. With such radically diverse audience, his songs have
no conclusive resting place.63
Culture, though seldom so acknowledged, is a potential force behind bringing about a political
transformation in the society.64 When closely examined, culture is nothing but a continuous
process through which distinct identities are created by producing meanings of and for our social
57
P. Kesava Kumar, Popular Culture and Ideology: The Phenomenon of Gaddar, 45(7),ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL
WEEKLY 61, 62 (2010).
58
Rao, supra note 39 at 201.
59
Kumar, supra note 58 at 61-63.
60
Rao, supra note 39 at 201.
61
Gaddar, PratiPataku Oka Katha Vunda? Aaa! Vundi, (Is There a Story for Every Song? Oh! Yes, There is),
Hyderabad: Jana NatyaMandaliPrachuranalu - II, 1991 from, Rao, supra note 39 at 197.
62
Rao, supra note 52at 292.
63
Rao, supra note 52at 292.
64
Kumar, supra note 58 at 61-63.
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Uses of Culture in Political Struggles: A Reading of Jana Natya Mandali
experiences. It undergoes a change whenever the society undergoes a change in its socioeconomic conditions. But it can also in turn affect these changes significantly. To understand
culture in terms of these experiences and the identities so generated by them, it becomes
important to consider the social groups involved and their respective ideological positions.
Understanding culture therefore involves comprehending the struggle that takes place between
the people belonging to different social groups.65
The transformation that occurred in India (on the countryside especially) during the period of
decolonization led to the creation of a whole new culture in order to accommodate the series of
political and socio-economic changes that took place in the society. The Naxalite movement that
gathered momentum during this period succeeded in generating a new meaning to the culture of
the people.66 Acknowledging this significance of culture and the close connection it shares with
ideology, groups such as Jana Natya Mandali have persevered in using culture as a means to
reach out to the people.
The objective behind the work produced by Gaddar becomes clear in this context. His song
compositions serve a purely political purpose that is, inculcating revolutionary ideals among the
masses. However, these ideals are brought into the everyday lives of the people by converting
them in terms of their life experiences. Works of culture produced in this manner are aimed at
bringing about a cultural transformation.67
Every song so composed by Gaddar seeks to address the problems of the exploited and depressed
sections of the society by raising questions about their existence and survival. Through this
process of continuous questioning he describes the plight of the people; and thus he challenges
his listeners to respond to pain and suffering. People’s daily struggles inevitably become the
central theme of Gaddar’s song compositions.68 The pathos and martyrdom that pervades the
families of those who have been eliminated without trial are embodied in his work in a touching
manner. Laskaru Bonaluis a notable composition by Gaddar in this regard. It is rendered in the
voice of a woman from a lower caste.69 The song takes the form of her reply to her husband’s
65
Kumar, supra note 58 at 61-63.
Kumar, supra note 58 at 61-63.
67
Kumar, supra note 58 at 61-63.
68
Kumar, supra note 58 at 61-63.
69
Gaddar, TARAGANIGANI, Hyderabad: Jana NatyaMandaliPrachuranalu, (1992).
66
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Uses of Culture in Political Struggles: A Reading of Jana Natya Mandali
questioning about when they would celebrate their Bonalu (traditional feast) a major festival of
their community. Her reply portrays the saga of sorrows and endless struggles in the lives of
these subalterns.
The process of reiteration, as discussed above, which Gaddar undertakes in his work, involves
transformation of the existing tunes that he receives from the community. The manner in which
Gaddar seeks to transform the given is by breaking away from the structure and context of the
original source that is, the narrative cultures and traditions that he draws from. 70 He tries to do
the same by infusing a maternal ambience in his tunes, a unique characteristic of Gaddar’s work
which makes it exceptional and unprecedented. This aspect of his work becomes significant as it
reinforces the belief that such a formidable political movement as the Naxalite movement can be
sustained by this subtle yet intense bond created by incorporating the emotions of maternal
affection and anguish for the loss of their loved ones.
Thus, he imparts his unique signature to the received cultural forms and transforms them in the
process. This is evident in his performances through his costume, movements, expression and
gestures. He makes it possible to capture the maternal idiom despite being a male singerperformer which indicates the intensity and persistence of the tradition beyond its emergence.71
The maternal idiom that pervades a significant part of Gaddar’s work often raised questions
regarding motherhood which is the only role (a role imposed by tradition) attributed to women.
However, a closer look at his work shows us that apart from representing the maternal voice, he
raises several crucial questions regarding the issues suffered by the women of these subaltern
communities72. The woman here becomes the person Gayatri Spivak describes as the “subsubaltern”. His famous composition Nindu Amassenade describes the problem of the elimination
of female child in certain communities.73He asserts that it is through the voices of women that
the people’s tunes survive and continue.74
70
Rao, supra note 39 at 209.
Rao, supra note 39 at 213.
72
Rao, supra note 41 at 373.
73
R. S.Rajan,THE SCANDAL OF THE STATE: WOMEN, LAW AND CITIZENSHIP IN POSTCOLONIAL INDIA, 269 (2003).
74
Rao, supra note 41 at 373.
71
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Uses of Culture in Political Struggles: A Reading of Jana Natya Mandali
Gaddar draws from an enormous range of communities to gather material for his song
compositions- agricultural laborers, adivasis, beedi workers are just a few to mention. He
examines the rhythms and refrains he picks up in this manner, from the most unpredictable of
sources, and examines them for their dialect and their matter.75 They are then displaced from
their original context and transformed to serve another purpose. The transfer of content thus
occurs from songs of festivity, prayer, daily rituals and activities etc., to songs related to themes
of revolution and insurgency.76This is how he keeps up the process of reiteration. Given the wide
reach of the sources he draws from, he is presented with an inexhaustible supply of regional
idioms and dialects in which he can compose his songs. It is therefore unsurprising that Gaddar
names one of his important books of reflection, Taragani Gani, Inexhaustible Mine.77The
influence of his mother’s tunes engrained in the memories of his childhood is significant in this
regard.
By making use of these diverse dialects, Gaddar slashes across or displaces the rigid hierarchy of
languages that is created and maintained by the mainstream media. 78Though his songs are
rendered for most part in Telugu, the chief language of the state of Andhra Pradesh, they are
modulated with the local (Telangana) idioms of various communities. This remarkable
achievement of Gaddar is made possible by bringing in the metaphor of maternal love, sacrifice
and anguish, a significant element of rural life that has constantly been dismissed and subjugated
by the dominant culture. This invention of a whole new genre of song culture by Gaddar is an
unprecedented accomplishment.
Vandanalu, a celebrated composition was produced by Gaddar when he was underground and
performed in 1989 when the ban on the JNM was lifted. Rendered in the voice of a mother, it is a
poignant expression of the pain and yearning of mothers for their dead children.79 It was
composed as a tribute to all the revolutionaries who lost their lives to the ruthless programme of
elimination without trial or encounter killings that was unleashed by the state in the countryside.
The song powerfully brings out the emotions of grief and bereavement for the loss of the young,
75
Rao, supra note 52 at 291.
Rao, supra note 39 at 203.
77
Gaddar, supra note 74.
78
Rao, supra note 39 at 206.
79
Rao, supra note 41 at 360.
76
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Uses of Culture in Political Struggles: A Reading of Jana Natya Mandali
in the tone of an agonized mother. The song’s embodiment of a mother’s mourning the loss of
her son in the war against the feudal lords and her aching for his return depicts a celebration of
motherhood. It salutes the enormous strength of maternal love and acknowledges their
understated yet immeasurable involvement in the war against the oppressive and unjust system.80
Vandanalu is a typical example of Gaddar’s standard theme of mourning and martyrdom. At no
single point of the song does it address the spectacle of death directly. 81 It brings out the loss of
the mothers in the form their endless questioning and through this, their endless longing and
hope for their return. The ending of every verse in a question- “Would you come as crow-lings, O
our children? Would you fill our womb’s delight, O our children?”82depicts the anticipating,
almost imploring tone of a mother bearing the loss of her child. Another typical feature of
Gaddar’s work discernible in this composition is the rhetoric used by him. The refrain of the
song points to the wide usage of language by Gaddar. It opens with the word Vandanalu, a
Sanskrit term for “salutations”. Gaddar’s signature of breaking with the hierarchy of languages is
brought out by immediately following this term of the reverent language with ma biddalu,
(meaning “our children”) a classic usage belonging to the regional vernacular of the Telangana
region.83
The maternal ambience that pervades this song is a reflection of the revolution that was brought
about in culture by Gaddar.84By becoming the voice for these voiceless sections, Gaddar has
succeeded in producing a counter-hegemonic culture.85 The impact this has had on these
disenfranchised sections themselves can be gauged by their electrifying response to his
performances and concerts. The colossal influence that Gaddar has had on forms of mass media
such as cinema and music also bears testimony to the remarkable cultural phenomenon that he
has become.
In a movement that forges forward through aggression, violence and bloodshed led by men, the
space that has been created for the voices of the oppressed and the beleaguered subaltern, the
80
Rao, supra note 52 at 297.
Rao, supra note 41 at 363.
82
Rao, supra note 52 at 297.
83
Rao, supra note 41 at 364.
84
Rajan, supra note 74 at 269.
85
Kumar, supra note 58 at 67.
81
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Uses of Culture in Political Struggles: A Reading of Jana Natya Mandali
helpless voices of the women, the intensity of maternal idiom is indicative of the remarkable
potential that lies in the cultures of these neglected masses. The approach adopted by the cultural
front of the militant Naxalite movement of infusing or weaving in the message of revolution into
the culture of the masses has proved to be a raging success in sustaining the movement in the
state of Andhra Pradesh.
The cultural movement that was thus inaugurated by Gaddar as a part of JNM forces us to
confront critical questions with respect to the approach taken to address the unheeded clamour of
the neglected and oppressed classes. It makes us realize the need for a more sensitive
understanding of the lives and ways of these people which becomes possible by gaining an
insight into their culture. The paradox of disturbing violence of the party articulated by means of
maternal affection provokes further thinking.
CONCLUSION:
Thus, through its focus on the radical cultural revolution brought about by the cultural extension
of the PWG, this paper has tried to draw the attention of the readers towards the attempts of this
group to forge a distinct, autonomous identity for these subalterns by empowering them to assert
themselves through their culture. It draws upon the renditions of the legendary creative artist of
the group, Gaddar, to establish the same. His work which exemplifies the rich culture of the
subalterns that lies unheeded beneath the dominant modes of culture, and provides an outlet for
them gives rise to a powerful alternative to the violent and belligerent modes of achieving a
revolution as envisaged by the political agenda of the PWG.
The work of culture generated by this group has succeeded in bringing about a dual
transformation- a transformation in the grand political ideology of Marx infused with the
teachings of Mao by incorporating them into the cultural articulations of the struggles of the
oppressed; and a transformation in the culture of these masses by instilling the message of
revolution into their diverse expressions of culture. It is the success of the JNM in capturing the
hearts of the downtrodden through their work, persuading them to join the revolution against the
dominant system that must force us to rethink our approach towards the lives and the struggles of
these subalterns, intricately woven into their culture.
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Uses of Culture in Political Struggles: A Reading of Jana Natya Mandali
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Uses of Culture in Political Struggles: A Reading of Jana Natya Mandali
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