On the Cultural Front - A Thesis

117 Pages·2005·2.35 MB·English

by  Ritwik Ghatak

ON THE CULTURAL 'FRONT'
A thesis submitted by
RITWIK KUMAR GHATAK
to the Communist Party of India in 1954
RITWIK MEMORIAL TRUST
2006
First published on the occasion of the
71st birth anniversary of
RITWIK KUMAR GHATAK
1st edition on 4th November 1996
2nd edition
1st February 2000
3rd edition
March 2006
V Ritwik Memorial Trust
Cover
Hiran Mitra
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Ritwik Memorial Trust
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PREFACE
In 1993, Buddhadev Bhattacharya, a current leader of
the CPI(M) and the Chief 1'finister of West Bengal, \vhile
looking through some old files in the Communist Party
office in Calcutta, chanced upon this document. His
attention was particularly dra\vn to this manuscript be
cause it was signed by Ritwik I<:umar c;.hatak. Like many
of us, Sri Bhattacharya kne\v that Rinvik Ghatak had
written a document concerning the cultural line of the
Communist Party in the 1950s.
Realizing the significance of the document, Buddhadev
Bhattacharya gave it to the present secretary of the In
dian Peoples' Theatre Association (IPTA.) in order to
publish it in the 50th 1-\nniversary Volume of IP'fi\ (De
cember 1993, page 258). In 1996, the IPTA. secretary
formally gave the original document to the Rinvik i\1e
morial Trust.
Because this document had lain undiscovered for so
many years, the Trust urgently believed that it should be
published immediately.
Although my name and Sri Mumtaj A.hmed l(ban's
name appear in this document, I n1ust emphasize that
it is solclv a creation of Ritwik I<.umar Ghatak.
J
No\v, I can only relate \Vhat transpired during those years
in which this document was conceived.
After completing bis Bachelor of Arts with Honours
6 On the cultural ~ront'
from Behrampore in 1948, Ritwik l(umar Ghatak en
rolled in the MA programme in English at the Calcutta
University.
Although he had long been a sympathizer of the Com
munist movement and specifically its cultural wing, IPTA,
he became politically involved in these organizations in
1948.
During this time, he also began working as an assistant
director in the Calcutta film industry.
His first role as an actor with IPTA was notably in Bijon
Bhattacharya's restaging of Nabanna.
In 1949, when the Communist Party had to go under
ground, there was a series of meetings held by some
members of the Party in Shyambazar to discuss the de
centralization process of the Party. I(ali Banerjee, who
was among them, mentioned to me that Ritwik Ghatak
was actively involved in these discussions. In 19 51, Ritwik
was commissioned by the IPTA's Provincial Draft Pre-
-paratory Committee (Pradeshik Khasra Prastuti Committee),
which was formed on 121-1arch 1951 of IPTA to draft a
document that would articulate the political and cultural
ideology of IPTA in West Bengal.
Initially, the Committee sent out questionnaires to vari
ous district committees of the Party and IPTi\ wings
throughout West Bengal.
From the results of these questionnaires, Ritwik defined
On the cultural 'Front' 7
the current state of Bengali culture and specifically be
gan to formulate the direction that the cultural line of
IPTA should take.
This document, Mulnitir Khashra, was published by
Surapati Nandy, on behalf of the Provincial Draft Pre
paratory Committee, on 1 June 1951 (for further details,
please see my book, R.itivik : Padma Thek~y Titas, Page :
154).
While working in IPTA's theatrical productions, he real
ized that it was necessary to educate himself as well as
his fellow IPTA members about the various develop
ments in world theatre.
I<ali Banerjee mentioned to me that both Ritwik and
Utpal Dutt were instrumental in initiating this theatrical
learning process as early as 1949.
I first met Ritwik by chance in 1953 in what was then
Bombay at the 7th All India IPTA Conference but we
first worked together in 19 54 when the South Squad of
the Calcutta Chapter of IPTA decided to stage Gorky's
Lower Depths (Nicher Mahal) which Ritwik was directing
and in which he invited me to act.
One day, during rehearsals, comrade Ajoy Ghosh, a sec
retary of the CPI, came for a visit and Ritwik had a dis
cussion with him about his views on what should be the
cultural line of IPTA. Comrade Ajoy Ghosh agreed with
his views.
8 On the cultttral ~ront'
Realizing my interest to know more about theatre, he
gave me copies of works by Stanislavsky. One day, I
noticed Ritwik was absorbed in thought; the next day I
found him with copies of Lenin and Plekhanov's works.
Soon thereafter, he conveyed to me that he had com
pleted writing a document concerning the cultural line
of the Communist Partv of India.
,
Later, Ritwik, Mumtaj and I signed this document, which
we circulated amongst the various committees of the
Communist Party throughout India.
However, at this time, we discovered that a "hush hush
campaign" had been initiated against Ritwik precisefy be
cause of his views on the cultural line of IPTA. Some
members of the South Squad of IPTA instructed tne to
stop associating with Ritwik, because there were rumours
that he would soon be expelled from the Party. These
members also threatened me \vith expulsion from the
Party. Despite the written support of Comrade Jyoti Basu
(a leader of the CPI), Rinvik was pressurized into aban
doning the rehearsals for LJJJver Depths.
In conjunction \Vith the Central Squad of IPTA, Ritwik
attempted to stage a play entitled, ]spat. \Vhen he was
forced to abandon this project as well, I encouraged him
to form his own Group Theatre based on Stanislavsky's
Group Acting ~1ethod.
Despite the campaign against him, which not only un
dermined his activities in theatre and film, but also greatly
On the cultural 'rront' 9
disrupted his personal life, Riv.vik remained active and
optimistic, and in the beginning of 1955 he wrote a de
tailed letter to the C:entral Committee of the CPL which
addressed the charges that had been brought against him
(s ee page 100).
The Central Committee of the CPI was the only agency
which acknowledged .receivingthis document (see
page.13).
For most of 1955, although he received no further re
sponse from the Party, he still maintained the hope that
he could remain actively involved in, as well as direct the
future cultural activities of both the Communist Party
and the IPT1 \ (for further details please refer to my books,
RitJ1ik & R.itJvik: Pad1na Thek~y Titas) publisher: Anustup)
1
: RitJvik, and Rihvik: Pad111a Thek~y Titas, publisher:
A.nustup
~At the end of ()ctober 1955, Ritwik received a letter in
forn1ing him that he \Vas no longer a member of the Com
munist Party of India (see page 12).
Here, in this document, Ritwik presents his entire un
derstanding of both national and international culture,
which many of us believe still holds true. During his
lifetime, Ritwik Ghatak never got the opportunity to
discover the potential; effect that his ideas on, and vi
sion of culture, have had (>n his generation, as well as on
(. ___ ,
future generations.
Like his first complete feature filtn, Na,ppn·k (1952- 53),
10 On the cultural 'Front'
which was not released until 1977, this document too
, has also remained suppressed, until now.
The document in its current form has been edited by
Erin Elizabeth O'Donnell, a research scholar from the
University of Chicago, USA, who is presently in Calcutta
conducting her dissertation research on the work of
Ritwik Ghatak.
For this third edition, the Ritwik Memorial Trust and I
gratefully thank Meera Nair for her generous support
for this project.
We would like to thank Samik Banerji who initially looked
at this document, and translated the poems.
March 2006 SURAMA GHATAI<
I<olkata
On the cultural 'Front' 11
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COMM:UNIST PARTY OF INDIA
Central Committee Office
Opp. Irwin Hospital,
N.Delhi. 31.1.1955.
ade,
Please refer to your letter dated 14th inst.
addressed to Nikhil. He asked me to inform you that
the SAid document is with him and will be given
to Com. A.joy on his reburn from Andhra, who is
likely to be back by 4th February.
Greetings,
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