Cultural activities mark Safdar Hashmi's death anniversary

A string of cultural activities including screening of a documentary and street plays marked the 26th annual Safdar Hashmi Memorial day here.
The noted playwright, poet and street theatre artist Hashmi was fatally attacked on January 1, 1989 on the outskirts of Delhi while he was performing a street play with his theatre group 'Jana Natya Manch'. He was 34.
The Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust was constituted by creative artists, cultural and social activists following nationwide anger after Hashmi's murder. The trust supports creative freedom and cultural autonomy in Hashmi's memory.
A short film titled 'Safdar Hashmi' was shown to the audience today to mark the 26th memorial day.

This year's memorial also marked the inauguration of the birth centenary year of iconic Hindi playwright-actor Bhisham Sahni, who was the founder chairman of the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust.
The day-long event commenced with two street plays -- 'Safai Abhiyan' and 'Kapat Muni Ka Kunba'. Both the plays were based on short stories by Sahni.
The event also witnessed classical and urban folk music performances by Tanveer Ahmad Khan and Priya Kanungo.
Kanungo, a Hindustani classical vocalist, performed at the memorial for the first time. She began her performance with a song from Kabir and then crooned one of the famous classics of K L Saigal. She ended her performance with Meera Bai's bhajan.