P M Antony: a victim of censorship & fanaticism

Topic started by mmc (@ netcache.spectranet.com) on Sat Feb 15 12:38:00 .
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This is a reproduction of an article of Sanal Edamuruku:



P M Antony, a young playwright of the southern Indian state of Kerala is imprisoned in the Central Jail of Trivandrum, for life. Antony, who is the recipient of the Kerala Literary Academy’s award for best playwright in 1993 was the centre of a controversy in the 1980s following his banned play the ‘Sixth Holy Wound of Christ.’ The president imprisonment is on the basis of a case in which he was charged with murder following a group clash. Sanal Edamaruku, Secretary General of the Indian Rationalist Association and who heads the struggle for the democratic rights of the author, argues that it is a clear case of vendetta and Anthony is a victim of religious bigotry.

When P M Antony wrote a play based on Nikos Kasantasakis’ famous novel The Last Temptation of Christ, he did not know that he was provoking a hornet’s nest. The play was independent in its nature and presented Jesus as a suicidal manic-depressive whom Judas, the hero persuades to become a willing martyr, and who could be used to provoke Roman slaves to fight against the clergy. The play presented Jesus not as the Son of God but as a human being. Mary Magdalene was presented free from blemish. On the basis of a publicity notice which was distributed by the theatre group, at the instigation of the Church, police swooped the rehearsal stage, confiscated the script and arrested Antony.

Antony received bail from the District Magistrate’s Court and moved the High Court of Kerala to lift the police ban. The play, however, was first performed on 10 August 1986, in Alleppey, the author’s native town.

Very soon, the Catholic Church of Kerala, under the leadership of Bishop M Joseph Kundukulum of Trichur Diocese, started a hysterical campaign against the performance of the play. The Church, which has considerable political clout in Kerala, organised huge public demonstrations demanding a ban on the play. They demanded the arrest of the author and a permanent stopping of any stage performance of the play.

The rationalists and other progressive forces in Kerala rallied for the freedom of expression of the author. They also organised public demonstrations attended by thousands of people. Very soon it became clear that a considerable section of the population were actively against any kind of ban on the play. The argument of the Church focused on the wounded sentiments of the Christian community. It was explained by Antony that the intention of the play was not to hurt anyone’s sentiments, but to re-create the Jesus story in a different format as any creative author would do.

Violence continued in the streets of Kerala wherever the play was performed, officially sponsored by the Church and its publications. Using clauses of the ‘Dramatic Performance Act’ the play was first banned in the Trichur District. Later, wherever the theatre group announced the performance of the play, it was immediately banned by the government.

The liberal and democratic forces came out openly for the democratic rights of P M Antony as an author and a theatre activist. The rallies and demonstrationsin support of P M Antony were attacked and tension continued for several months. The clergy leadership systematically provoked violence and tension. With all opposition at one side, they play was performed on 42 stages, before it was officially stopped under the Kerala Dramatic Performance Act.

A joint action committee went in appeal against the Dramatic Performance Act, but the High Court of Kerala and Supreme Court of India upheld the ban.



Publication of the script

As the ban was only for the performance of the play, I have taken the initiative to publish the script of the play in book form in Malayalam (the language spoken in Kerala). In July 1988, I published the script and the public response was tremendous. There were rumours that the book would also be banned and we were ready ot fight in the courts. Very soon we knew that the ban would be of no meaning as thousands of copies of the script were already in circulation.

Our determination to make the script available for readers had a major winning point. The ban then existing was only on the stage performance of the play. Printing and publication of it was not banned.



A new case

The unputdownable efforts to uphold the right of expression of this author soon got him in a new case. A factory owner, Somarajan, was murdered in Allepey in 1980, by friends and relatives of a man he himself had tortured. Though P M Antony was never arrested in this case nor had his name ever appeared in the First Information Report, he was booked as the eleventh accused in this case. The lower court sentenced him for six months imprisonment, taking the testimony of the murdered man’s relatives. The appeal petition filed by Antony and some others gave him no relief – but a life imprisonment.

Local residents and neighbours of P M Antony attested his alibi that, at the time of the incident, Antony and his theatre group were staging a play at the local temple compound. The play began at 6.30 in the evening and continued until midnight. Official records say the murder occurred around 9.45 pm. P M Antony’s offer to produce witness from among the audience was disallowed. On the other hand, the claim of alibi without witnesses was shown against him by the High Court. The judgement indicting Antony to life imprisonment was welcomed by Church officials who described it as an example of God’s wrath.

Antony strongly reacted against the argument by some church leaders that his plight was an example of God’s wrath. He said: ‘no God can punish me, because I do not believe in any believe in any God. From the beginning of human history, the weak have served as scapegoats for the strong. That is what has happened to me. Those who support the weak have often suffered. I don’t believe in a God who torments helpless millions through floods and cyclones. I perceive God in upright men who have the courage to speak the truth.’



The Defence Committee and appeal in Supreme Court of India

Following the High Court verdict in 1989, Antony went into jail and his wife and four children who had meagre resources spent dark days at his unfinished brick house, awaiting his return. Antony’s personal friendship with me was well known and his wife Gracy pacified the children that he had gone to Delhi to see me. At that time, the children did not know that their father was in prison.

The plea, which requested the re-opening of the case to testify those who witnessed Antony participating in a play elsewhere when the ‘unlawful assembly’ occurred, was not allowed by the Supreme Court also. P M Antony’s life imprisonment was thereby confirmed by the Supreme Court on 29 September 1994.

Does Antony regret writing his play? P M Antony answers: ‘I have not regrets at all. Instead, my experiences vindicate my world view and historical consciousness. It has only reinforced my notions and self-confidence.’





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