A tribute to revolutionaries

To pay homage to the works of Late Satnam, an activist and a writer, a documentary film titled ‘Red Ant Dream’ was screened at Lamakaan recently. Satnam, whose real name was Gurmeet Singh, wrote a book ‘Jangalnama’ that gave an insight into the lives of the Adivasis of Bastar, Chhattisgarh, and it was an account of his travels in the Maoist Guerrilla Zone. Satnam in his book said: “Dilli is only a word associated with the government and to them the government means greedy contractors, repressive police, displacement and harassment.”

The film ‘Red Ant Dream’ is directed by Sanjay Kak, a Kashmiri documentary filmmaker, whose work deals with social issues, environmental activism and resistance politics. As of now he directed 11 films and he bagged a National Award for Best Non-Feature Film for his movie ‘In the Forest Hangs a Bridge’ in 1999.

‘Red Ant Dream’ has been screened in various cities in India since May 8, 2013 and it deals with issue of Maoist insurgency in India and it focuses on the Maoist movements in Bastar in Chhattisgarh, tribal people fighting against industrialists in Niyamgiri, Odisha and protesters acting in memory of the leftist revolutionary Bhagat Singh in Punjab.

‘Red Ant Dream’ shows Bhagat Singh stating that “The state of war does exist and shall exist”. In the film, the social activists and farmers of Punjab cheer “Inquilab Zindabad”, (Long Live Revolution). The film celebrates the lives of Bhagat Singh, Pash and Commander Chandra Shekar Azad. All of them were revolutionaries. The main point of this film was the clear depiction of the severity of environmental racism and the role of imperialism in creating it.