Pakistani danseuse Sheema Kermani, who has used her passion for dance to create Tehrik-e-Niswan (The Women’s Movement) to fight for women’s rights in her country where they are under duress, has now turned to bridging the divide between Pakistan and India. She spoke with me recently while on a goodwill tour to Kolkata, India (and again via email following the recent terror attack in Pune) about how she came to learn "Hindu" dance forms and why she is performing in India when ties between the two neighbors are at their lowest. Her work couldn't come at a more critical time - today in New Delhi, the foreign secretaries of both countries will finally resume talks for the first time since the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

You are an expert in "Hindu" dances like Bharatnatyam and Odissi. What made you learn them when it is difficult to be a professional dancer in Pakistan?

Well, when I learned dancing it was not difficult to do so in Pakistan. But today it is not easy to perform. But I have always loved dancing since childhood. And it was acquaintances of great Indian dancer Uday Shankar that I trained under – Mr. and Mrs. Ghanshyam, who were also from Kolkata, and who had a school in Pakistan. I learned Bharatnatyam and Odissi, because I loved the forms. I also dance Kathak. I was on an Indian Government Cultural scholarship and lived in Delhi and learned under renowned people like Leela Samson and Aloka Pannikar.

For me it is not important whether a dance is “Hindu” or not - this is beauty, this is art. For me, the Ras Leela (a dramatic dance depicting the life of Lord Krishna), for instance, is an act of love.

Has it been difficult to keep dancing in Pakistan?

Yes, it has been difficult. As you know these dances are not popular, and especially under the Zia regime when he introduced the Hudood laws (penalties for acts of immorality, transgression against other's honor, property, and other common rights - the punishment for which is specified in the Quran and Islamic Hadith laws which are considered traditions and precedents from the life of Islam’s Prophet Mohamed) performing became unpopular and there was strict control over women. We stood up to his regime then, and today it is worse - in tribal areas music and dance is totally banned. Even in the cities we have faced attacks but we continue.

But of course people are scared and there is not much popular demand for dances like Bharatnatyam and Kathak in Pakistan - we have very few students who want to learn these dance forms. But theatre has been useful in mobilizing women and in raising awareness about their rights.

What does Tehrik-e-Niswan do?

We formed this group with some like-minded women in 1979 and the following year we held our first conference in Karachi. We had women from all sections of society, especially from laboring classes, attend. We wanted to raise awareness and focus on violence against women, on their discrimination in society, and also make women aware of their rights. Initially we did workshops but I soon realized that we needed cultural change and that theatre and dance was also a powerful medium of reaching out to society. So we stage political plays about women and their oppression in whatever form, whether it is domestic or by the state or by fundamentalists.

In your play today, you spoke about Kashmir, Vietnam, Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Yes, our group Tehrik-e-Niswan is dedicated to women’s empowerment, so we have taken up issues like domestic violence and anti-war. My dance drama today [is a protest] against the war in Afghanistan, Iraq and in northern Pakistan, as well.

Some critics say that the women’s movement has not given sufficient attention to the condition of minorities in Pakistan. Since these minority groups are small and becoming even smaller as they either convert to Islam out of fear or flee Pakistan, has Tehrik-e-Niswan ever taken up the cause of minority women inside Pakistan?

We have taken up the cause of minority women, like tribal women, like the Parsis, the Christians, whose condition is not so good in Pakistan, especially under the Zia regime. I have Christian dancers in my group, for instance. And as you may know there were the blasphemy laws, which were used against minorities. But the number of the minority communities is quite small in Pakistan.

What are you doing about the current situation inside Pakistan?

We are very much against the war on terror, so we have been performing and trying to raise awareness about it. We are against the war in Afghanistan and also against the involvement of the Pakistani government in a war which is not our own.

The war has now spread and is in our streets and cities, and Pakistan is a difficult place to stay in, though in the cities it is much better than in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas or North West Frontier Province regions. But we are against the war and we will use Tehrik-e-Niswan to spread the anti-war message and the message for peace. And of course we want to strengthen democracy inside Pakistan.

What motivates you to come to India when relations between India and Pakistan are at their lowest?

India and Pakistan must live in peace as neighbors - we have many commonalities. My mother was from Lucknow and my father was from Hyderabad – both of which are in India – and it is a waste of resources to fight each other. That is why I joined the Pakistan India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy, in order to strengthen people-to-people contact, and also to strengthen the cultural bonds between us and to spread the message of peace. That is why I decided to come, especially after the 2008 Mumbai attacks. It is so sad and people in India need to know that people in Pakistan want peace with them - and we have always been well received [in India].

This is a crucial time and I hope that with my art and dance we can spread the message of peace between the two countries.

Do you think recent tensions between India and Pakistan [following the Pune terror attack] will impinge on bilateral relations, and specifically on your movement?

Yes, I think all of this does further the tension between the two countries but hopefully we’ll maintain sanity and not stop cross-cultural exchanges. Tehrik-e-Niswan was invited to participate in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Women’s Theatre Festival in New Delhi and we will be performing our production Jang Ab Nahin Ho Gi (There Will Be No War Now) – an anti-war feminist play – on March 11th in New Delhi. The festival is being organized by the Indian National School of Drama and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. So these are some positive things happening.

Do you think the Pakistani government or jihadi groups in Pakistan will pressure you not to perform in India?

Well, the Pakistani government is so caught up in so many issues. As for the fundamentalists, I cannot say what they will do. We can just hope for the best.

It is unfortunate that the majority of people on both sides want peace and a small ugly minority has so much clout that they can create so much trouble. I think the only way is to continue without bowing down to pressure.



ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Aditi Bhaduri is an independent journalist and researcher based in India. With a background in international relations, specializing in the Arab-Islamic world (specifically the Israel-Palestine conflict), Russian linguistics, displacement and gender, she began her writing career by covering the Middle East for the Indian media. Currently Aditi’s work focuses on conflict, peace, displacement and gender. She acts as a gender consultant to various NGOs and started the Human Rights for Beginners program in schools in her native city of Kolkata. Aditi is also a member of several civil society initiatives in India and was on a Rotary Goodwill Exchange Program to the USA.

Aditi’s work has been published in both Indian and foreign print and electronic media. She is currently co-editing a book on displacement in Asia-Pacific. She was awarded the UNFPA-Population First LAADLI National Media Award 2008 for gender sensitive reporting and hopes to establish her own publication dedicated solely to peace journalism.