Students conduct street plays against communal violence

It was in September 2015 when a man, Akhlaq, was lynched by a mob at his home in an UP village over suspicion of storing and consuming beef. The incident shook the entire country, including members of Bibhaban — a theatre group with a majority of Jadavpur University students. But it was the December 2016 Dhulagarh riots that pushed them into action.“We are actors and can’t work as a peace-keeping force. So, we decided to use our acting skills to combat the ongoing problems,” said Anirban Chakraborty of the group. They have started staging street plays in different parts of the city and outside. “People connect to plays very easily and all we had to do was highlight the relevant issues through our plays,” he added. The group also performs in various institutions and universities in the city, because, as Anirban puts it: “Students are a very important component of society, so awareness among them about a particular issue is important.” There are currently nine members in the group and they perform original as well as adapted plays in various parts of the city.