The courtroom drama that seeks to give voice to the perspective of Nathuram Godse during his trial for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi was being advertised as the “true history”, “knowledge of which is a birth right for everyone”. The Congress has claimed it to be part of a “systemic design to alter historical realities”.
On Saturday, Congress workers stormed a Rajkot auditorium that was scheduled to stage the play, leading to detention of several protestors by police and cancellation of the show. Amid protests, the show in Jamnagar was also cancelled. In Ahmedabad, where it was scheduled for Monday night, Congress workers had called for protests. On Sunday, members of the student and young wings of the Congress held protests at several locations in the city and painted graffiti in various places decrying the play and Godse. ‘Hun Nathuram’ is a Gujarati adaptation of Bharat Davolkar’s ‘Nathuram Godse ko Marna Hoga’, which itself is based on Pradip Dalvi’s play ‘Me Nathuram Godse Boltoy’. The then government in Maharashtra banned Dalvi’s play in 1998, but the Bombay High Court lifted the ban in 2001, citing freedom of expression.
Dabholkar’s version is a contemporary adaptation of the original work. It seeks to present a “balanced” view of the historical trial while using modern stagecraft to appeal to a younger audience. The Gujarati version, translated by Chintan Naresh Shah, is produced by Sejal Painter.
Congress spokesperson Parthivrajsinh Kathvadia termed the play “an unacceptable attack on history and our heritage”. Staging it in Gandhi’s home state was a part of a “meticulous design” to rehabilitate Godse in political discourse as a nationalist and cleanse him of the image of “the first terrorist of independent India”, Kathvadia told ET. “Apart from all other efforts to diminish Gandhiji in public psyche, like changing the name of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, these are the more effective steps to slowly erase Gandhiji and his legacy that is being actively pursued by the ruling dispensation across the country,” Kathvadia said, adding that such attempts would not go unchallenged in Gujarat.
BJP leaders did not respond to Kathvadia’s allegations.
