Drama with a mission: Kannada play 'Olashunti' takes new Flag Code head on

What makes Olashunti, the latest Kannada play by veteran theatre director and activist Prasanna Heggodu, special is that it is not just a satire. It is also part of a theatre movement aptly flagged off in Mysuru, the cultural capital of Karnataka.

While onashunti in Kannada means dry ginger, olashunti is a colloquial term that literally translates to ‘inside ginger’, and stands for ‘Pinch’. 

What the play does essentially is mock the new and controversial tricolour  policy, which allows the national flag to be made of synthetic polyester material. 

Until recently, it was mandatory to use only flags made of khadi for hoisting in public events. An amendment to the National Flag Code changed that, and the GST exemption for all flag materials including polyester has made the government’s intent loud and clear. It wants to make the national flag affordable to everyone.

Also read: In a polarised ecosystem, the tricolour too has not been spared

However, many, like Prasanna, feel the Centre’s move has undermined the value of the national flag, and dealt a severe blow to the khadi industry. They are intent on spearheading a movement similar to the historic Shivapura Dhwaja Satyagraha, held in 1938 by defiant and brave freedom fighters, 

Dhwaja Satyagraha Samiti 

So now, a Dhwaja (flag) Satyagraha Samiti has been formed in Mysuru to steer a campaign all over Karnataka against the government’s flag policy. Joining hands with Prasanna in his mission is Dr K Kalachennegowda, retired principal of Maharaja College. And, the satyagraha, tailored after the Shivapura event nearly a century ago, has started in earnest.

In the small village of Shivapura in Karnataka’s Mandya district in 1938, shortly after the Congress convention at Haripura in Gujarat that was presided over by Subhas Chandra Bose, people from the then State of Mysore were inspired to hold a similar convention. They wished to hoist the national flag, which was banned by the British. The Mysore administration, fearing trouble, issued orders banning any public meetings or gatherings to stop the Dhwaja Satyagraha. 

So, on April 9, 1938, over 14,000 villagers stood bravely, facing around 600 gun-toting policemen for three days, to hoist the flag. The president of Indian Congress from Mysore State, T Siddalingaiah, was arrested but the flag was somehow successfully hoisted. The villagers managed to protest against British oppression even if it meant they had to spend almost the rest of their lives in jail.

Also read: Karnataka: Post offices flooded with defective national flags

Gandhiji’s principles

For Prasanna, amending the National Flag Code during the Amrit Mahotsav of Independence has violated Mahatma Gandhi’s principles, giving free rein to polyester in the place of Bapuji’s beloved khadi. The play’s theme is to raise awareness among the people. 

Prasanna is also former director of Mysuru’s Rangayana, the city’s main cultural centre.

According to B Rajesh, who is assisting Prasanna in the Dhwaja Satyagraha, Olashunti gives a strong message about unity. It depicts the children of Mother India, dressed distinctly in saffron, white and green, quarrelling with one another, unmindful of the helpless cries of their mother. The consequence of this internal strife and hatred is that the nation starts to slide faster on a self-destructive path. 

Dr Ambedkar and Gandhiji, who are in heaven, request Saint Narada for a solution. Narada visits earth and hands over a khadi flag to Mother India, and peace immediately returns,  narrated Prasanna while speaking to The Federal.  Though there are comic moments, the message is strong, and can hardly be missed.

Also read: Khadi flag production centre in Hubballi fears polyester onslaught

The play was first performed on August 10 and 11 at Mysuru, and will travel to Bengaluru on Friday (August 12). Prasanna said it will be performed even after Independence Day. It is a continuous process, as the polyester national flag issue is yet to be resolved, he added. 

10 questions to Modi

The Dhwaja Satyagraha Committee is not just staging the play. It has also posed a set of  questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the polyester flags. These are:

1. Why has khadi been shelved in the making of the national flag? 
2. Why the forcible sale of flags made of foreign and synthetic materials through government offices, banks, municipalities and other autonomous bodies? 
3. Does it not amount to corruption to sell distorted and poorly-stitched national flags that have wrongly-positioned Ashoka Chakra in them? 
4. Has this not come to your notice?
5. How much of taxpayers’ money is spent on making/importing synthetic flags? 
6. Why are Khadi Gramodyog products being ignored? 
7. Is it true that our country is being flooded with national flags made in China? 
8. What is the rationale behind modifying the National Flag Code to enable torn or faded flags to fly?
9. Our national flag symbolises non-violence and the Ashoka Chakra symbolises peace. Khadi is the symbol of non-violence. By sacrificing this, are you giving the message that India is a violence-loving nation now?
10. Why are the academies of art and literature pressurising writers and artists to support the Har Ghar Tiranga programme? 

Same slogan, different sentiment

Khadi flags are being sold at a higher price than the polyester ones. The irony, according to the activists, is that while Har Ghar Tiranga was the slogan of the Quit India Movement against the British, the current government is using the same slogan to strangle the Swadeshi industry.

Already, there are reports about thousands of defective flags in the market, including the ones sold by a few government agencies and post offices. Also, a few days ago, Karnataka Minister for Cooperation, ST Somashekar, inaugurated an exclusive stall at the BJP office in Bengaluru to sell the tricolour as a part of the party’s Har Ghar Tiranga campaign. The irony is that the stall was largely hawking poorly designed flags. This was the case with the flags sold at the Mangaluru post office and many other places as well.

Also read: Har Ghar Tiranga, but TN Dalit panchayat heads not allowed to hoist flags