Seminar on Secularim and the Arts: A Report

On the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT) a three day seminar centred around the theme ‘Secularism and the Arts’ was organised from 26 to 28 September 2013. The seminar was held in the environs of Sahitya Kala Akademi. At a time when the communal forces are going that extra mile to polarise the Indian masses on the basis of religion and vitiate the communal harmony of the country, it was an extremely relevant and at the same an important seminar. Spread over three days the seminar saw a plethora of extremely insightful and interesting papers being presented throwing light on the different strands of the theme. The speakers tried to analyse the close inter-relationship of arts and secularism and the relevance of it in the present scenario. The seminar was kicked off with a short welcome address by Sohail Hashmi. He presented an outline of SAHMAT’s history by throwing light on the work and the various programmes that have been organised under its aegis since the time the organization had come into existence. In the light of the communal disturbances that the country has been witness to in the recent times, the most recent being the Muzzafarnagar riots, Hashmi tried to explain the relevance of organisations such as SAHMAT in maintaining political and social sanity and harmony in the present times.