No country for buskers: street performers face an uncertain future

Ishrat, Wajid, Razadan Shah and Ishamdin Khan at at Kathputli Colony Transit Camp Anand Parbat.
| Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma

On a Sunday afternoon, Wazid, a 48-year-old street magician, was arranging props for his show in Noida when a bystander walked up to him and told him to leave the spot. “He threatened to beat me up if I didn’t take my performance elsewhere. I had to relent,” Mr. Wazid says, adding that facing such harassment is the daily reality of street performers in the National Capital Region.

Without a formal law to provide protection, busking — the act of performing in public places for voluntary donations — has witnessed a steady decline.

Ishamuddin Khan, a 52-year-old street magician, says the police use colonial-era laws such as the Dramatic Performances Act, of 1876, and the Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, of 1959, to keep them off the streets.

While West Bengal and Delhi have repealed the Dramatic Performances Act, it is active in modified versions in several States. The Law Commission of India in its 248th report, Obsolete Laws: Warranting Immediate Repeal, had said the archaic law “has no place in a modern democratic society”.

In the absence of clear-cut guidelines, whether a public performance should be granted permission or not is left to the discretion of the local police.

Also Read | Using street theatre to showcase social issues

‘Need regulation’

Regulation is needed to provide space for artistes to showcase their talent and earn a livelihood with dignity and without fearing the authorities, says Delhi-based lawyer Abhishek Kumar Pathak.

“Though begging and busking have different literal meanings, Section 2 of the Bombay Prevention of Begging Act, 1959, views busking as a form of begging,” Mr. Pathak says.

However, Varun Dagar, who left his home in Palwal, Haryana, to perform freestyle dance in Delhi’s Connaught Place, says busking should not be legalised till it is properly defined in law. “I have been taken to the local police station several times. Now, the police don’t say anything to me. My struggles have made the path to busking a bit easier for others,” he says.

Also Read |‘Problems facing theatre are lack of money, women actors’

Disappearing act

Today, jaadugars (magicians), madaaris (performers with trained animals), nats (acrobats), baazigars (jugglers), behroopiyas (impersonators), and saperas (snake charmers) are quickly disappearing from public spaces.

“We belong to the jaadugar community. We have been moving around the country and performing tricks for thousands of years. We move to the hills in summer. Come winter, we head to Mumbai, Kolkata, and the coastal belts,” Mr. Khan says.

After Independence, the government set up institutions to preserve art and recognised top artists and provided them with amenities such as housing, he says. “It is a tragedy that a majority of jaadugars are poor and illiterate, and lack representation in Parliament. Legislators should pass laws to help us,” he says.

Moving on

Facing a dead end, many street performers have turned to other professions. “Some have become e-rickshaw drivers, while others are dealing in scrap metal,” he says.

“I faced harassment from the police whenever I put up a show,” says Rajadan Shah, 60, a street magician-turned-scrap dealer. “What is the harm in asking for one or two rupees from the public for showcasing our talent?”

Mr. Khan says he has feared the police ever since his father was beaten up while preparing for a performance in Haryana. “A policeman approached us and sought a bribe of ₹2. He hit my father when he said he had not made any money yet and would pay up after the performance,” he says.

Online petition

For over a decade, Mr. Khan has been working with 300-400 families of street performers in the National Capital Region to make a collective push towards ensuring that their trade is regulated.

Finding little success, he has started a petition on Change.org demanding that Delhi Police, the Delhi government and the New Delhi Municipal Council permit regulated busking in public spaces. The petition has garnered over 7,600 signatures so far.

Also Read | On street performance: The beauty of busking