Tag Archives: Maharashtra government

Apr21

Free Kabir Kala Manch- Raptivist A-List

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NEW MUSIC: FREE KABIR KALA MANCH – A LIST

admin| April 20, 2013, zomba.in

Mumbai Social ‘Raptivist A-List is back on your speakers with a new joint called ‘Free Kabir Kala Manch’, and you know it’s not about a party. This time the emcee who has become some kind of social commentator, teams up once again with his comrade rapper/producer Shyn9n from Srinagar (they collaborated on ‘Tale of Afzal Guru’) as they tackle the issue of the ‘Kabir Kala Manch’ a group that has been charged with involvement in Naxalite activities and members imprisoned by the Maharashtra government .
As always strong in his opinions, A-list explains why he has chosen to ally with this perceived group of outlaws…

“I have followed the Kabir Kala Manch case closely for a while now. These are just protest poets, not naxals. ..

They fight with pens and microphones, not guns and bombs. As a protest musician myself, I feel a deep solidarity with them and felt the need to rap about the injustice they are facing….just like many rappers have made songs to express their desire to freeMumia-Abu Jamal in America.”

The delivery style is simpler and less detailed than his previous songs which adds emphasis on content, which we guess was the rappers intention.
A-List also takes the opportunity to take a dig at the Indian indie music scene, saying they stand for nothing, unlike Bob Dylan and Tupac who stood for principles…

“Please note there are no charges of violence,
It’s a cheap joke, we’ve largely been silent,
They sing of malnutrition and farmer suicides,
On that Bhagat Singh shit, this is martyr’s music right,
The real Bob Dylans, Tupacs of the nation,
While indie scene is just a simulation”

The song is freely available for download and like most of A-List’s tracks, it’s a stand-alone single for the cause.  You can expect to see him perform it at upcoming open mics and protest concerts.

Listen to ‘Free Kabir Kala Manch’ below and let us know what you think about the track

https://soundcloud.com/alistrap/free-kabir-kala-manch-produced

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Feb5

#India -Raising social issues no crime: Bombay High Court #protest #justice

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   Dhawala Dhengale

Court grants bail saying highlighting society’s flaws doesn’t make one a Maoist

Sunil Baghel, MM

Posted On Tuesday, February 05, 2013 at 04:15:07 AM

Raising issues like “social inequality” is not banned and hence is not punishable, the Bombay High Court observed while granting bail to four alleged Maoists.

“The interest taken by the applicants and their attempts to create social awareness is commendable,” observed Justice Abhay Thipsay while passing the judgment last Thursday. “How can their highlighting wrongs in society and insisting on the need for change be considered evidence of belonging to a terrorist organisation?”

Three accused – Dhawala Dhengale, Mayuri Bhagat and Anuradha Sonule – were allegedly associated with the Kabir Kala Manch, which held street plays on “social inequalities.” The fourth accused, Siddharth Bhosale, is alleged to be an important activist of the Maoists from whom provocative literature was seized.

Taking the State to task, the HC said, “It is surprising that the State should consider these activities as incriminating material. Speaking about corruption, social inequality, etc and seeking a better society is not banned.”

The court observed that national leaders express the same views and that “expression of these views cannot brand a person as a member of Communist Party of India (Maoists).”

The court noted that if the “concerns” are taken to be expressed only by CPI (Maoists), then “it would indicate that these issues are not addressed by anyone else except CPI (Maoists), which would mean that other parties or social organisations are indifferent to these problems”.

The Maharashtra ATS arrested the accused last April for being part of the Golden Corridor Committee, a group allegedly set up by the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist). They were granted bail of Rs 30,000 each with sureties of the same amount. The court had granted bail to two other accused last October, while observing that every person influenced by Maoist ideology can’t be treated as a member of the organisation.

ATS had allegedly recovered CDs, pen drives and printed material supposed to be used to spread the committee’s message.

The HC accepted the defence’s argument that most of the books were available in the market – a fact not denied by the State – and that the said literature was not banned under the provisions of the Criminal Procedural Code, and hence reading the literature was not prohibited.

The court observed that the accused can be said to be sympathisers of the Maoists philosophy. However, there was no evidence to show that they were “active members” of the said organisation.

Only one accused, Angela Sontakke – alleged to be the main accused and secretary of Golden Corridor Committee – now remains in custody.

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Oct4

Girish Karnad to release CD of Pune’s Kabir Kala Manch

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ST Correspondent
Thursday, October 04, 2012 AT 11:22 AM (IST)

MUMBAI: Noted actor, writer and playwright Girish Karnad would release a CD of songs of Pune‘s Kabir Kala Manch (KKM) on Thursday.

The event is being organised by the Kabir Kala Manch Defence Committee, which has taken up the cause of KKM. The Kabir Kala Manch is a Pune-based cultural troupe mainly consisting of Dalit youth from the region and many of it’s activists are behind the bars.

The CD album titled “Hi Amchi Gani-Amcha Gunha Kay?” contains spirited music, decked in folk-form is a compilation of 11 songs from their earlier two albums.

Activist-lawyer and journalist Kamayani Bali Mahabal said that the aims of the initiative is to make KKM songs available to people, provide legal counsel and support to KKM members. Apart from this the initiative plans to bring to light the cases against two members, Deepak Dengle and Siddharth Bhonsle who were arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) .

“Today while Deepak Dengle and Siddharth Bhonsle are in prison, many other members including singer-poets Sheetal Sathe, Sagar Gorkhe and Sachin Mali have gone underground after threats from the police. “All are charged with being Naxalites by the Anti Terrorism Squad,” said Kamyani Bali Mahabal, urging Maharashtra Government to withdraw the cases.

The Kabir Kala Manch Defence Committee include activists like Anand Patwardhan, Bhai Vaidya, J V Pawar, Kamayani Bali Mahabal and Sambhaji Bhagat.

 

Oct3

Girish Karnad supports dalit protest singers

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Gitanjali Dang TNN, Oct 3, 2012

Mumbai: “I knew about the Kabir Kala Manch (KKM) but wasn’t aware of the extent of the atrocities carried out against the group. Anand Patwardhan (filmmaker) and Ramu Ramanathan (playwright) drew my attention to the matter,” Girish Karnad told this correspondent over the telephone.

The award-winning Bangalore-based playwright will be in the city tomorrow for the launch of Kabir Kala Manch’s album Hee Amchi Gani—Aamcha Gunha Kay? (These Are Our Songs — What Is Our Crime?) at Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh.
KKM is a group of dalit protest singers and poets from Pune who convey their socio-political critique through their songs and street plays. In May last year, two singers from the group — Deepak Dengle and Siddharth Bhonsle — were arrested by the Maharashtra anti-terrorist squad under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act for being “pro-Maoist”. Following their arrest, other key members of the group went underground.
The album, a compilation of 11 songs, is the result of the efforts of the Kabir Kala Manch defence committee, which was inaugurated in May this year. Ironically, the committee came into being when Patwardhan set aside the Rs 51,000 he was awarded by the Maharashtra government for winning a national award for his documentary Jai Bhim Comrade on the life and politics of dalits.

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