Sikh playwright of cancelled show faces death threats

LONDON - The author of a play depicting scenes of sexual abuse and murder in a Sikh temple has gone into hiding after receiving death threats, friends say.

Sikh playwright Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti's "Behzti" (Dishonour) prompted a riot by 400 Sikhs outside the Birmingham Repertory Theatre over the weekend, forcing organisers to cancel the show.

Protesters were furious over the play, which features sexual abuse, kissing, dancing, homosexuality and murder taking place in a gurdwara, or Sikh temple.

"She's in shock as you can imagine," said Braham Murray, co-artistic director of the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester. "There were death threats."

"It came out of the blue and nobody had any clue that the play was going to cause this kind of controversy," added Murray, who had just spoken to Bhattion Tuesday. "It is very frightening to receive that kind of threat."

Another friend, who did not wish to be named, said the playwright had gone into hiding on the advice of the police.

On Saturday, three police officers were slightly hurt and three men arrested after bricks were thrown at the Birmingham theatre, smashing windows.

On Monday, directors cancelled all remaining performances after talks with Sikh community leaders and police, saying that while they were committed to freedom of artistic expression, they had to ensure the safety of audiences.

Some media criticised the theatre for cancelling the production, with one newspaper calling it a "capitulation to mob rule", but the venue stood by its decision.

Another group, The Birmingham Stage Company, has offered to try and stage the play elsewhere in the city.

Sewa Singh Mandha, chairman of the Council of Sikh Gurdwaras in Birmingham, said the play was misleading.

"I am 77 years of age now and most of my life I have been connected with the institution of gurdwaras, and I have in my life never ever heard of such kind of incidents taking place in a gurdwara," he said on Monday.

There are around 500,000 Sikhs living peacefully in Britain, noticeable in the community for their turbans, a requirement of the monotheistic faith.

The majority of British Sikhs emigrated from India in the 1950s and 1960s. The are generally regarded to have settled well -- although the issue of turbans prompted them to protest when legislation was introduced requiring motorcyclists to wear crash helmets.

Bhatti was offering no comment on Tuesday after being advised by police not to talk to the media.

She wrote in a foreword to her play, about a mother and daughter visiting a temple, that while she was proud of her Sikh heritage and its principles of courage, she also felt trapped by the religion.

"Sometimes I feel imprisoned by the mythology of the Sikh diaspora," she wrote. "There is certainly much to be proud of and our achievements and struggles have been extraordinary.

"They are a testament to our remarkable community -- energetic, focused and able. But where there are winners there must be losers. And loss."

- REUTERS