Socialist demns the Birmingham Repertory Theatre's decision to cancel Gurpreet Bhatti's play Behzti, (Dishonour) at the after protests organised by Sikh religious leaders turned violent just before Christmas.
Written by a woman from a Sikh background, the play exposed rape, violence and corruption within the Sikh Gudwara.
It is true that the so-called war on terror has meant that Sikhs have been targeted alongside Muslims and other ethnic and religious minorities by the state and by racists, and we defend them against any such attacks.
But this does not mean that those with criticisms within the Sikh or any other community have to keep their mouth shut.
For it is never the 'right" time for women and young people within the ethnic communities to raise their criticisms and opposition to abuse and violence against women and children.
Racism is always present but cannot be used as a way of deflecting the rights of those who are doubly oppressed from speaking out. Issues of sexist violence are neither more nor less important than racism.
The right to speak freely is a bourgeois democratic right and therefore also important gain for the working class and the oppressed and we defend it.
Those who oppose certain ideas also have the right to demonstrate their opposition, and the theatre was right to allow the distribution of leaflets explaining the protesters reasons for opposing the play.
But they do not have the right to use violent intimidation to achieve their aim of censorship. What is a 'community?'
We should not assume that there is any such a thing as an undivided or homogenous Sikh community, or any other type of community for that matter. All communities are We support the right to dissent because of the ramifications for
divided by
women in class, gender,
minority race, age, sexuality, disability communities and sometimes
religion. The Sikh 'community' exception to this. In this case conservative religious leaders are trying to retain control over the young who are angry at the levels of racism they suffer. But they direct their anger against the wrong targets: they should attack the state that is enacting racist and authoritarian legislation in the wake of 9/11, along with racist police tactics and racists themselves. Instead they turn on those in their own community such as women, lesbians and gays, and non-believers who try and speak out against their oppression. However, it was clear from comments by some from a Sikh background that the Sikh 'community' is divided in its response to this censorship.
The same was true within the Muslim community during the Rushdie affair, with many Muslims joining the campaign in defence of his. right to publish The Satanic Verses.
And Rushdie has himself defended the right of Behzti to be shown.
The level of anger displayed in the demonstrations, and the refusal of the Sikh establishment leaders to guarantee peaceful protests, shows clearly that the play raised some very important issues.
It is hardly surprising that such issues as rape, violence, corruption and abuse of power are present in the Sikh Gudwara.
Why should a conservative religious group with minority ethnic status be any different from other religious groups such as Christian churches?
We have seen over the past twenty years examples in other hierarchical, male-domPlease contact Box Office inated religious organisations such as the Catholic Church, exposure of sexual abuse of children and women and the abuse of power in Ireland, in the US and in Britain.
It is of course no coincidence that the Catholic church was one of the first to speak out in defence of the Sikh religious leaders and the protests.
Many in the theatre and arts have defended the play with unqualified support for freedom of expression and this is an important element, but, as Pragna Patel of Southall Black Sisters, says in her letter to the Guardian (27.12.04):
"...we have struggled for years against attempts to silence our voices in relation to violence against women. ... It is not just freedom of expression that is at stake.
"As in the Rushdie affair, we support the right to dissent because of the ramifications for women in minority communities." The recent cancellation of