To,
The Editor
What ever Shivsena is doing is condemnable. It is very unfortunate. But the play which Mahesh Dattani hase presented is not written by Shahid Anwar. But a mixture of Sara Shagufta’s autobiography and biography (by Amrita Pritan).

The controversial autobiography of Sara Shagufta has already been published in Pakistan (I don't know if it has been published in India as well) and some of the letters about that controversy has also been published in some of Pakistani and Indian Urdu journals. Also the biography of Sara Shagufta “Life and Poetry of Sara Shagufta” by Amrita Pritam has been published in 1994. Shahid Anwar has just edited some part of that book and noted down in Devnagri.

Shahid Anwar is not a genuine, indisputable writer, if you don’t believe me then just read his plays which are he claims are written by him.

His first play “Kale Kauwe ne Kaha” is basically a Bengali play” Kak Charitr“was translated by S M Zaheer in Urdu.

“SOOPNA KA SAPN”, you'll find it that it is Chandrasekhar Kambar's “Tukra's Dream” (Soopna ka Sapna's first show was presented with the name of Tukra ka Sapna). This same play i.e. - “Tukra ka Sapna” has been staged at Prithvi theatre in Hindi and at many other places in English.

B-3 - was originally translated from a German play “DIE WELLE”. There is a movie on this subject as well. This play was translated by a German language student of JNU in Hindi; he had also done all the research work on Ron Jones experiment for the play.

This same student was a member of Bahroop- a group which staged most of so called Shahid’s works. Though it was this student who had put in all pain and labor, ultimately it was Shahid Anwar’s name that was given as the writer and poor student was given least of a mention. This was the reward for all the respect he had shown to “Mr. Original Playwright”

“RUR” -Karel Capek's play “RUR” is already translated in Urdu and Hindi. Nirmal Verma and Patras Bukhari are its Hindi and Urdu translators respectively. Shahid Anwar who claims to be its translator doesn't even have the Original Script of RUR.

Ghair Zaroori Log is a play based on the characters of short stories of Sa’adat Hasan Manto.

Character’s dialogues are from the Manto’s stories, Manto’s own dialogues are from these stories only, as well as the letters to Uncle Sam were written by Manto himself. Then how can it be a play written by Shahid Anwar? All these facts are available in the book “Dastavez” compiled by Balraj Menra.

Galileo; you know better than me that Galileo's many translations are available in Hindi and Urdu. He just noted down it in easy language.

One of the most glaring point about his published works or in the broachers of his plays is that no credit has been given to the original writer. Even if he gives any recognition the writer it is not from where he has taken but from where actually the writer had taken. For ex: Soopna Ka Sapna is basically a shorts story of Chinese writer Lu –shun. Whose story was adapted by Mr. Kambar into a play? Though Shahid only translated the play from English to Hindi he calls himself the adapter of the play who adapted it from the story to play.

And gives credit to Lu-shun to exhibit his intellectuality about his choice and knowledge and not Mr. Kambad.

Till date only two of his translations are actually his own. One is Mahesh Dattani’s play “Final Solution” (if somebody had helped him in translation then I don’t know) and another is” Aurangzeb’s” translation written by Indra Parthasarthy.

You must investigate about it. You must read the original plays and translations as well. Many people who admit him as a playwright they don't know that how big a con artist he is.

Its a shame that Maharashtra government is powerless to entertain crap like this.. who are they to question? if there is a problem go to the court and solve it.. uneducated gunda gardi is bull s@#@...