Delhi University Students' Union wants to ban play because of 'religion'

Don’t hold your breath: the list of bans haven’t stop yet. In fact, it’s quite the reverse. It has now reached a theatre group in Delhi University. Ankur,  the theater society of SGTB Khalsa College, DU has been issued a notice seeking immediate ban of their play Welcome to the Machine.  [caption id=“attachment_2165219” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Ankur, the Dramatics Society of SGTB Khalsa College. Image from their Facebook page.[/caption] The letter, by Joint Secretary of Delhi University Students Union, which has also been doing the rounds of Facebook, states that the play gives a"wrong, anti-Hindu message" and urges authorities to take immediate action, “otherwise the student’s union will protest on high level against it.” According to a counter-letter written by the group’s president Guneet Singh Nanda, “The play investigates how religious forces assert their dominance over ‘others’ by means of culture, education and institutional structures.” He calls the ban ‘regressive’ and ‘undemocratic’. Welcome to the Machine was performed at National School of Drama, Connaught Place and other DU colleges 37 times this year. “This threat to ban is a threat to the entire artist community who engage with their work politically, and it also highlights the ban-culture doing the rounds in our country” says Nanda in his letter. He invites people on social media to protest against this ban and to also watch the play when it is next staged. [caption id=“attachment_2165101” align=“alignnone” width=“655”]  A copy of the letter by DUSU found on the dramatic’s society’s Facebook page.[/caption]