‘Court Martial’ throws light on caste-based discrimination

Tribune News Service

Jammu, February 26

The Pancham Society for Art and Culture Upliftment today staged a Hindi play, “Court Martial”, written by Swadesh Deepak and directed by Vijay Goswami.

The play deals with the issue of caste-based discrimination that is still prevalent in the country. Through this play, the society tried to convey that a lot has changed in terms of education and scientific progress since the Independence of India, but this vile discrimination continues.

The main character of the play is Ram Chandra, an Army jawan, who has been accused of murdering one of his senior officers Captain Verma and injuries another officer Captain BD Kapoor. When the play begins, Ram Chandra is already in court, facing trail. The Court Martial is presided by a war veteran Col Surat Singh, who has witnessed many life-and-death situations.

During the course of trial, the prosecution, Major Ajay Puri, sees no complication in the case of Ram Chandra as he himself has confessed to the crime, but extremely sharp defence lawyer Bikash Roy goes deep into the motive behind assault and exposes the shocking truth. He views things in a different perspective as he poses ostensibly irrelevant questions to the witness, but they are actually related to the genesis or the back story of the whole saga.