Mysuru Rangayana director Addanda C. Cariappa terming all those who protested against the guest list of the now-postponed Bahuroopi theatre festival as “Maoists” has drawn the ire of Kannada theatre activists.
Several theatre activists from Mysuru had taken objection to Chakravarty Sulibele, a Hindutva ideologue, being invited for the closing ceremony of the festival. In an interview given to ‘Samvaada’, a media house associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Mr. Cariappa called himself an “RSS worker” and said Rangayana was captured by “Maoists” till now and that they were protesting against him.
‘A new low’
Raghunandana, theatre director with a long association with the Rangayana, said the debate in the Kannada world of arts and letters had never stooped so low. “The way all those who oppose certain decisions of his have been labelled ‘Maoists’, betrays a clear fascist mindset. It is very different from the disagreements we have had and handled in the Kannada literary and theatre world before,” he said. “I am saddened at the lack of resistance from within the Rangayana community to this,” he added.
Several former directors of Rangayana, Mysuru, have taken objection to how Mr. Cariappa portrayed the work of the repertoire before him taking over. “Rangayana has mostly been free of politics or strong ideological narratives. We have done productions of Gopalakrishna Adiga, Devanur Mahadeva, P. Lankesh, and several other writers. S.L. Bhyrappa has been part of several events at the Rangayana before. The picture Mr. Cariappa paints is extremely unfair,” said C. Basavalingaiah, a former director.
Another former director, Prasanna, who started the Bahuroopi theatre festival, came down heavily on Mr. Cariappa’s comments on another former director Bhaghirathi Bai Kadam. Mr. Cariappa had insinuated that Ms. Kadam, married to a Muslim artist from Assam, had held a festival with the theme of migration during the Rohingya crisis. “What he has said is highly irresponsible,” he said. “This is happening all over India. Many theatre personalities in north India are being forced to become members of the Samskara Bharathi, an affiliate of the sangh parivar, to survive,” he added.
Meanwhile, a coalition of like-minded citizens, including several artists and writers from Mysuru, are meeting on Saturday to discuss the “cultural crisis” in Rangayana and the next course of action. “We do not have a problem with Mr. Cariappa saying anything he likes, but not as a director of Rangayana that has a glorious history. So we demand that he either resign or the Government sack him,” said Na. Diwakar, one among those who wrote an open letter launching the first protest against the theatre festival.
