Meghnath, the director of nationally and internationally recognised documentary films like Naachi se Baanchi, Gadi Lohardaga Mail and Kora Rajee, discusses how films and music have acted as weapons of resistance for Adivasis. Along with Biju Toppo, Meghnath has been working in Jharkhand for more than four decades. The author of 바카라Gaon Chorab Naahi바카라, a song that has turned out to be an anthem for people바카라s struggles across the country, recounts his work among the Adivasis of the Hindi belt to Outlook바카라s Abhik Bhattacharya
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In the long history of Adivasi struggles, we have read how culture has been taken up as a strong weapon of resistance. In your five decades바카라 long experience both as a social and cultural activist, how do you find it resonating on the ground?
Culture Of Resistance: Megnath Speaks On How Music And Films Shape The Struggle Of Adivasis
The Adivasi folksongs, if one deeply examines, not only carry the mundane poetic beauty of their lives but it reflects their struggles against the 'development' that so-called civilised wants to impose.
Truly, in the history of Adivasi struggles, songs and folklore have been consistent components. If we look at the songs together, we can understand it with much clarity. In the Netarhat struggle, where people fought for more than 30 years against dispossession and displacement against an effort to convert a huge area into field firing range for the Army, use of the songs of resistance were visibly prevalent.
In Oraon language, there is a phrase 바카라Bijay Bighul Kharkha Lagi바카라 that means 바카라Bighul has trumped and it바카라s time to get ready for the move바카라. We collected all those local folksongs and phrases and came up with an audio cassette. That helped the people바카라s struggle a lot. We made it around 25-30 years back. However, it still works today.
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What drove you to take up such initiatives? How do you think music and lyrics work as forces of resistance?
Actually, our major motto was to re-hash their own songs that talk about their people, stories and struggles so that they can feel proud of it. That was even the reason for us to form 바카라AKHRA바카라. 바카라Akhra바카라 is similar to 바카라chaupal바카라 where in Northern India people sit for a chitchat. 바카라Akhra바카라 is its Mundari version. In the centre of the village, this is the space where people come, sing, dance, share their thoughts, struggles and discuss issues of significance that affect their lives.
Dr. Ram Dayal Munda gave the name Akhra to our organiÂsation. As I said, it helped us to give strength to the struggles of Netarhat. Later, our song 바카라Gaon Chorab Naahi바카라 became the resistance song for people바카라s struggles across the country.
To make it further clear how music works, let me talk about another film that we made entitled Kora Rajee. It is on the tea plantation labourers of Assam who mostly belong to this region (Chhota Nagpur). They have been working there for more than 150 years. Though this is a documentary film that had won international awards, it was mainly focused on the lyrics. The spine of the film is the songs of the tea garden labourers.
In contrast to the market forces that have commodified music, how are you retaining cultural authenticity?
To respond to this, I must refer to the film that we made entitled Gadi Lohardaga Mail. It was produced in this context. During the 1990s, so many music albums were coming up in the market across Bihar, Jharkhand, Bengal, Chhattisgarh. Those were just made for dances, copying Bollywood films. Sometimes, it was even below one바카라s dignity to see all those dances.
So, Dr. Ram Dayal Munda told me, 바카라Meghnath, can we not see our thing with respect and dignity?바카라 Then the idea cropped up and we made the film. It is just a collection of good songs sung during a train journey. Until now, we have made three films on three major festivals of Jharkhand: Sohrai, Karam and Sarhul. We made it for the coming generations so that they remember their rich culture.
These films talk about the meaning of the festival so that it is celebrated keeping its authenticity intact. For example, let me tell you a story. Sohrai is celebrated to thank cattle. Now where did it come from? As per the folk legend, their God, Baba Thakur, sent his 바카라gorait바카라 (informer) to tell the people that they should take shower thrice and eat once a day. But the informer on the way messed it up and told people that they should take a shower once and eat thrice. Now Baba Thakur said, 바카라If people will take food thrice a day, our capacity of cultivation needs to be increased.바카라 And thus, he sent the informer as cattle to help the people.
Such stories will resonate among the youth and will help them to be guided by their legends. Like this, Karam and Sarhul also have rich content and our efforts were to bring it to the public.
What do you think about the continuous devaluation of Adivasi culture in different spheres? How might it be confronted?
Look, this idea of superior and inferior cultures comes out of our colonial mindset. There is hardly any work being done on the Adivasi values in the Hindi belt. But in the northeast, we can find some significant works. We have used films, music and other modern technologies to spread our message.
Tell us a little more about Akhra.
You see, I am basically a social worker. I have been working in films for the last 30 years but prior to that, for more than two decades, I worked as a social activist. During this period, I found that intellectual works among Adivasis were mostly unexplored. Then, Dr. Ramdayal Munda and I felt that we need to work on the intellectual production and Akhra was formed in 1992-93.
We received support of several youth from colleges and Biju Toppo (an internationally acclaimed filmmaker who works with Meghnath) is one of them who stayed till now. There were several Adivasi intellectual youth who extended their support and thus we have been successfully producing documentaries for almost 30 years now.
During your productions of the documentaries, have you found Adivasis getting engaged? What is the connection that they feel?
Let me tell you first why we chose to make documentaries. Both the fiction and documentary communicate but the former needs support of several departments and for the latter, it is all about the living subject. People need not act here; it is real to the core. You can make a standard documentary with a reasonable budget.
In theoretical terms, the father of the documentary, John Grierson, says, 바카라Documentary is the creative interpretation of actuality.바카라 We embarked with basic skills of camera and other technicalities to communicate. So, people participate in whatever way possible. And we take our films to the people on whom they are made.
As what we make is connected to their lives, people sit down and watch the films with great interest. We have gone to places where around 5,000 people sat and engaged with the film, even skipping their dinner.
It is a blatant lie that the people don바카라t want to see serious documentaries. If it is on an issue that touches their lives, they will definitely see it. Our film Naachi se Baanchi on Dr. Ram Dayal Munda has received a captivating response as wherever we took it, people watched it without a break.
In the last five decades, we have seen a sort of Hinduisation of Adivasis. What is your take on this? What do you think about 바카라Sarna Dharma바카라?
바카라Sarna Dharma바카라 is a fragment word of the bigger thing that is known as 바카라Adivasi Dharma.바카라 Dr. Ramdayal Munda called it 바카라Adi Dharma바카라. I personally feel that Adivasis have a different kind of religiosity and that is totally different from the belief systems of Hinduism, Islam or Christianity.
In 바카라Adivasi Dharma,바카라 there is no idea of hell and heaven, no reincarnation. Unlike Hindus, Adivasis don바카라t have any ritual of 바카라Shraadh바카라; they call back the spirits home to guide them. This ritual is called 바카라Ghar Bhitri바카라. Adivasis across India have their own beliefs.
But politics is also connected to religion. Those who held power, from the Britishers to the Mughals, all tried to impose their religion on the Adivasis. Now, those in power are trying to do the same and they are being called Hindus.
But the original religion of Adivasis does not have any connection to Hinduism.
In these years, what sort of change did you notice on the ground?
I have been here in Jharkhand for more than 40 years. And earlier, when we used to visit Adivasi villages, we never saw so many Hanuman temples, Shiv Mandir etc. RSS-BJP have been working their propaganda. We communists used to believe that those who till are the owners of the land. And here, they have worked on the ground and now are reaping the fruits. Dr. Ram Dayal Munda used to say, 바카라If Adivasis believe in their own system, they will not be colonised.바카라 Otherwise, we are giving in to the colonial powers.
What is your advice to young Adivasi filmmakers?
With the democratisation of technology, film-making has now become much easier. I appeal to young Adivasi filmmakers to uphold their own rich culture instead of emulating Bollywood or Hollywood films. We have enough constituents to explore and celebrate our ideals. We must proceed in that direction.
(This appeared in the print edition as "A Music Of Resistance")