Hindus are urging Croydon (South London) based Surrey Opera to withdraw Lakmé opera performances; scheduled for August and September in Croydon and Cornwall; which they feel seriously trivializes Hindu religious and other traditions. 

Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today; said that respected institutions like producer Surrey Opera and hosts Minack Theatre (Cornwall) and a Church of England parish in Croydon; should not be in the business of callously promoting appropriation of traditions, elements and concepts of “others”; and ridiculing entire communities.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, indicated that this deeply problematic opera was just a blatant belittling of a rich civilization and exhibited 19th-century orientalist attitudes. He also urged Surrey Opera to apologize for such an inappropriate selection. 

Surrey Opera should have shown some maturity before selecting an opera like Lakmé (Lakshmi), displaying Western caricaturing of Eastern heritage and abetting ethnic stereotyping, Rajan Zed noted. 

It was highly irresponsible for an establishment like Surrey Opera to choose such an opera which had been blamed for caricaturing, appearance of mocking of “other” cultures, colonial terminology, degrading and offensive elements, dehumanizing portrayal, essentialism, narratives often failing to represent “other” cultures with dignity and humanity, imperialistic outlook, justifying ideas of superiority, looking down on people and customs, misrepresentation, considerably wrong about the culture it was supposed to be portraying, needless appropriation of cultural motifs, patronizing flawed mishmash of centuries-old orientalist stereotypes, pseudo and unabashed orientalism, reimagining Hindu traditions-practices-deities, shallow exoticism based on prejudice, etc. Surrey Opera could do better than this to serve its diverse stakeholders; Zed stated. 

Rajan Zed suggested Surrey Opera President Janette Ives and Artistic Director Jonathan Butcher; Minack Theatre Director Rebecca Thomas; St Mary Magdalene Church Croydon Vicar Amanda Johnson to re-evaluate their systems and procedures and send their officials for cultural sensitivity training so that such inappropriate stuff did not slip through in the future. 

Like many others, Hindus also consider opera as one of the revered art forms which offers richness and depth. But we are well into the 21st century now, and outdated Lakmé, which premiered in 1883 in Paris, is long overdue for permanent retirement from the world stage; Zed points out.

 Even the Lakmé announcement on Minack website warns of “cultural bias” and states: “Contains stereotyping or negative depictions of people/cultures”. 

Directed by Alex Pearson and conducted by Jonathan Butcher, this two hours and 20 minutes Lakmé performance is scheduled to be held at St Mary Magdalene Church (Croydon) on August 27 and 29; and Minack Theatre from September 7-11. Tickets cost from £12.00 to £36.00. 

Sir John Tomlinson and Sarah Wheeldon are Patron and Chairman respectively of Surrey Opera, a Registered Charity founded in 1969. Minack describes itself as “the theatre under the stars!” 

Lakmé, a French opera in three acts, was composed by Léo Delibes and set in India in the mid-19th century.Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about 1.2 billion adherents, and moksh (liberation) is its ultimate goal.