International Women’s Day: Women of Bilal Bagh to take to the stage

Safdar Hashmi’s play Aurat, a commentary on patriarchy, was first staged in 1970, but remains relevant even five decades later. On International Women’s Day, celebrated on March 8, the Bengaluru-based Theatre for Change will be staging their version of Aurat. What makes iteration of the play different is their decision to cast members from the Bilal Bagh community. Bilal Bagh in Bengaluru, and notably its women residents, made national headlines in early 2020, for their protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). It eventually came to be known as the Shaheen Bagh of the South.