MUMBAI: Hounded often by the Shiv Sena during his lifetime, Vijay Tendulkar, one of India’s great modern playwrights, now faces an extra-legal ban in Madhya Pradesh posthumously. The annual IPTA (Indian People’s Theatre Association) festival in MP’s Chattarpur town was recently cancelled by its organizers after Bajrang Dal objected to the staging of his play ‘Jaat Hi Pucho Sadhu Ki,’ saying it was “anti-Hindu and anti-Indian culture.” Tendulkar’s ‘Jaat Hi…’ is the Hindi version of his Marathi original, titled ‘Pahije Jatiche’ (‘Wanted: Of the same caste’). The Marathi play debuted in 1976, with Nana Patekar essaying one of the key characters, and has been performed in Marathi and Hindi over the decades. The play is not about “sadhus” or religion but is a sardonic take on India’s education system and on casteism. Its central character, Mahipati Porparnekar, who describes himself at the beginning as “M.A., Unemployed,” lands a job with great difficulty but goes through a series of experiences which cast light on inherent biases in an entrenched social order. The play also mocks self-proclaimed intellectuals for their vague concerns and indifference to what’s close at hand.