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{{Short description|Cultural Organization}}{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{use Indian English|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox organization
| image = Kabir Kala Manch.jpg
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| motto =
| formation = 2002
| type = Cultural organisation
| status =
| purpose =
| headquarters = [[Pune]], [[Maharashtra]], India
| language = [[Marathi language|Marathi]], [[Hindi language|Hindi]]
| leader_title =
| leader_name =
| main_organ =
| budget =
| remarks =
| name = Kabir Kala Manch
| bgcolor =
| fgcolor =
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| abbreviation = KKM
| location = [[Pune]]
| region_served = [[Maharashtra]]
| membership =
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}}

'''Kabir Kala Manch''' was a cultural organisation that was formed in [[Pune]], [[Maharashtra]], India, in the wake of the Gujarat riots in 2002. Through music, poetry and theatre, it aims to spread an anti-caste, pro-democracy message.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |work=DNA India|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report-kabir-kala-manch-creates-awareness-through-dramatics-1364274|title=Kabir Kala Manch creates awareness through dramatics |date=28 March 2010}}</ref> It comprises students and young professionals who perform protest poetry and plays in slums and streets.

==History==
After the Gujarat riots of 2002,<ref name=":0" /> a group of students came together and formed Kabir Kala Manch, a cultural group which, through their music and poetry, took up the cause of social inequality, exploitation of the underclasses, farmer suicides, female infanticide, Dalit killings and the widening net of corruption.{{cn|date=July 2017}}

Some of the performances of the Kabir Kala Manch have been featured by [[Anand Patwardhan]] in his documentary ''[[Jai Bhim Comrade]]''.<ref>{{cite news|work=The Hindu|url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/a-film-with-a-difference/article2836663.ece |title=A film with a difference |date=28 January 2012}}</ref><ref name="auto2">{{cite news |work=Tehelka|url=http://www.tehelka.com/a-song-that-will-be-sung/ |title=A Song that will be Sung |date=28 April 2012}}</ref>

==Allegations of Naxalite links==
Kabir Kala Manch activists were arrested under the [[Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act]] as being "[[Maoists]]" and "[[Naxalites]]" by the [[Government of Maharashtra]]. In May 2011, a crackdown by the [[Anti Terrorist Squad (India)|Anti-Terrorism Squad]] on musicians and poets accused of promoting Maoist or Naxalite ideology led to [[Sheetal Sathe]] and other members of Kabir Kala Manch going into hiding.<ref>{{cite news |work=Indian Express|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/former-fc-girl-student-now-wanted-for--maoist--links/935344/1 |title=Former FC girl student, now wanted for ‘Maoist’ links |date=11 April 2012}}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{cite news |work=Tehelka|url=http://www.tehelka.com/the-thin-line-between-dissent-and-rebellion/ |title=The thin line between dissent and rebellion : Why is a radical Dalit cultural group and its members being persecuted in Maharashtra? |date=20 April 2013}}</ref>

On 2 April 2013, Sheetal Sathe and her husband Sachin Male, also a member of KKM, came out of hiding from the police in [[Mumbai]] while maintaining that they were innocent of the charges and insisting their act did not constitute "surrender",<ref name="auto4">{{cite news |work=The Hindu|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-sundaymagazine/democracy-needs-their-song/article4685102.ece |title=Democracy needs their song |date=5 May 2013}}</ref> after two members of KKM, Deepak Dengle and Siddharth, were granted bail by the Bombay High Court.<ref>{{cite news |work=Hindustan Times|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Mumbai/Two-activists-suspected-to-be-naxals-by-ATS-surrender-near-Vidhan-Bhavan/Article1-1036458.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130403084506/http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Mumbai/Two-activists-suspected-to-be-naxals-by-ATS-surrender-near-Vidhan-Bhavan/Article1-1036458.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 April 2013 |title=Two activists suspected to be naxals by ATS surrender near Vidhan Bhavan |date=3 April 2013}}</ref> But in spite of her pregnancy, Sheetal, along with her husband, were denied bail immediately and again on 4 June 2013 by the Mumbai Sessions Court.<ref name="auto">{{cite news |work=Tehelka|url=http://www.tehelka.com/why-is-this-woman-still-in-jail-2/ |title=Why is this woman still in jail? |date=15 June 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |work=Indian Express|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/pregnant--maoist-sympathiser--denied-bail/1125083/|title=Pregnant ‘Maoist sympathiser’ denied bail |date=5 June 2013}}</ref> She was finally granted bail by the Bombay High Court on 28 June 2013 on humanitarian grounds.<ref name="auto3">{{cite news |work=DNA India|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/1854250/report-hc-grants-bail-to-suspected-naxal-sheetal-sathe |title=HC grants bail to suspected Naxal Sheetal Sathe|date=28 June 2013}}</ref> On 3 January 2017, the remaining arrested members of the group — Sachin Mali, Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Ghaichor — were granted bail by the [[Supreme Court of India]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://thewire.in/91550/kabir-kala-manch-members-bail-sc/|title=After Three Years in Jail, India's 'Most Dangerous' Singers Finally Make Bail |work=The Wire|access-date=2017-01-04}}</ref>

In December 2020, two KKM members Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh Gaichor, challenged their arrest in the Bombay High Court. The [[National Investigation Agency]] stated in court that the reason they had been arrested was that they had sung songs in which they criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several government policies of the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]]. The NIA produced translations of these songs in court, which, amongst other things, encouraged people to drink cow urine (a practice promoted by the [[Ministry of AYUSH|AYUSH Ministry]] in India), mocked the Prime Minister's radio lecture, "[[Mann Ki Baat|Mann ki Baat]]" and warned those who criticized Prime Minister Modi that doing so was dangerous because as a consequence, " elimination is certain." The NIA produced these translations as proof of violent activities and conspiracies.<ref>{{Cite web|title=NIA Cites Kabir Kala Manch's Songs That Parody Modi, BJP to Justify Arrest of Singers|url=https://thewire.in/rights/nia-kabir-kala-mach-song-parody-modi-bjp-sagar-gorkhe-ramesh-gaichor-arrest|access-date=2020-12-15|website=The Wire}}</ref>

==Attack on KKM members==
KKM members along with the event's organisers, were attacked by the members of [[Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad]] after their performance at [[National Film Archive of India]] (NFAI), organized by the students of [[Film and Television Institute of India]], Pune.<ref>{{cite news |work=The Hindu|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/abvp-thrashes-ftii-student-for-not-saying-jai-narendra-modi/article5053110.ece |title= ABVP thrashes FTII student for not saying ‘Jai Narendra Modi’ |date=24 August 2013}}</ref>

==Sheetal Sathe==
'''Sheetal Sathe''' is a folk singer, poet, and [[Dalit]] rights activist from [[Pune]], [[Maharashtra]], who rose to prominence within as one of the lead singers of Kabir Kala Manch in the mid-2000s.

From 2007, documentary filmmaker [[Anand Patwardhan]] filmed Kabir Kala Manch performances and interviewed Sathe extensively while gathering footage for ''[[Jai Bhim Comrade]]'', a film about [[caste]] tensions and violence stemming from the police killings at Ramabai Nagar, Mumbai in 1997. ''Jai Bhim Comrade'' was finally released in 2011, according to Patwardhan, "so that people like Sheetal can come out in the open again and prove that they hadn't done anything wrong, anything more than speak up for the powerless”.<ref>{{cite news |work=The Hindu|url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/a-film-with-a-difference/article2836663.ece |title=A film with a difference |date=28 January 2012}}</ref><ref name="auto2"/> The film, which was screened in colleges and universities around India, introduced Sathe's music and message to an audience outside Maharashtra.{{citation needed|date=July 2017}}

=== Popular Works===
* Aye Bhaghat Singh Tu Zinda Hai Har Ek Lahu Kay Katray Main.

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Cultural organisations based in India]]
[[Category:Dalit activists]]
[[Category:Ambedkarites]]

Kabir Kala Manch - Revision history

->GreenC bot at 01:48, 9 August 2021