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Delhi College Students' Union Wants To Ban A Play For Being 'Anti-Hindu'

Delhi College Students' Union Wants To Ban A Play For Being 'Anti-Hindu'
Protesters take part in a street play during a protest against growing cases of sexual abuse in New Delhi on May 5,2012. The protesters urged the police to take quick action over complaints of sexual abuse and stop making comments that suggest that women are to be blamed for acts of sexual abuse. AFP PHOTO/SAJJAD HUSSAIN (Photo credit should read SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP/GettyImages)
SAJJAD HUSSAIN via Getty Images
Protesters take part in a street play during a protest against growing cases of sexual abuse in New Delhi on May 5,2012. The protesters urged the police to take quick action over complaints of sexual abuse and stop making comments that suggest that women are to be blamed for acts of sexual abuse. AFP PHOTO/SAJJAD HUSSAIN (Photo credit should read SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP/GettyImages)

NEW DELHI — The Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) has called for banning a college play deeming it "anti-Hindu" and accusing it of being a "fake drama on Hindu and Hinduism."

DUSU joint secretary Ashutosh Mathur has written to the principal of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa college, urging him to ban the play and take "strong action" against the theatre society for putting up the play.

The Hindi street play, or nukkad natak, 'Welcome To The Machine' has been written and directed by the students of the college, and reportedly deals with "how religious forces assert their dominance over ‘others’ by means of culture, education and institutional structures."

Speaking to HuffPost India, Mathur said that he had first come to know of the play after it was performed in Ramjas College, and some students of both Ramjas and SGTB Khalsa complained to him about anti-Hindu sentiments expressed in the play.

"They have thrown a piece of cloth with 'Ram' written on it to the crowd, and have made some statements against cows, which are sacred to the Hindu religion," he said. "They have also claimed that Hinduism doesn't support any other community."

In the letter to SGTB Khalsa, Mathur has warned "high-level" protests against the play and the SGTB theatre group if the college administration didn't taken any immediate action against them and stop the play.

Play director Guneet Singh Nanda told HuffPost India that the college had as of yet not attempted to shut the play down. "In fact, we are planning a protest march against this letter next week and we will perform the play there as well," he said.

"Any attempt to stop this play would not just send a wrong message against it, but also against anyone who wants to voice their opinion."

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.