LONDON, MAR 21: The Birmingham Rep Theatre on the outskirts of London has
decided to court controversy again by staging a new drama on
mujras or Muslim brothels.
The new play titled Bells has been
conceptualized by the young Anglo-Pakistani playwright Yasmin Whittaker Khan.
It seeks to expose the secret world of the
mujra or courtesan house, describing how Muslim girls often find
themselves trapped in such environs, and simultaneously exposes the hypocrisy of
the otherwise religious men who visit them.
It may be recalled that the theatre was forced to axe a play
Behzti , which in Punjabi means ‘dishonor’,
a black comedy depicting rape and murder in a Sikh temple with the 1984
anti-Sikh riots in India as the backdrop.
Representatives of the Sikh community then described the play as "grossly
insulting to the community".
The demonstrators eventually stormed the Birmingham Rep, throwing missiles and
breaking windows.
Behzti was cancelled and its female
playwright, Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, went into hiding after receiving death
threats.
The new play, according to The Telegraph
, features "non-graphic" sexual scenes in a fictional British
mujra .
It opens at the Birmingham Rep Theatre on Wednesday.
Whittaker Khan told the paper on Sunday that there was no comparison between the
two plays.
"The play is provocative. I don't mind if there are peaceful protests although I
can't see why there should be.
"Is it safe to put it on? Yes, I hope that it will be safe. The theatre has
thought about it and they do think it is safe," Khan was quoted as saying.
The tradition of courtesan houses in Pakistan stretches back for centuries.
It is a subject of fierce debate as to whether they are harmless entertainment
venues, where young women sing and dance for men, or brothels.
Whittaker Khan claims that the Pakistan film industry has glamorised mujras as
harmless. She claims mujras now
operating in Britain and in Pakistan are brothels.
She says she knows of at least four mujra
clubs in Britain which function as brothels rather than as entertainment
spots.
The girls might pray five times a day, but in between they are bought like
chattels, she says.
The play is to go on a national tour after being staged in Birmingham.
(ANI) |
