Sahmat and Politics of Cultural Intervention Sudhanva Deshpande IN November 1988, the working class of Delhi went on a successful seven-day strike under the leadership of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU). the trade union front of CPI(M), demanding an improvement in their living and working conditions. This has been, to date, the longest such action in the working class movement in Delhi. A day before the strike began, several hundred artists and intellectuals marched to Boat Club in support of the forthcoming strike, and participated in a cultural sit-in. The chief mobiliser of this event was Safdar Hashmi, playwright, actor, director, lyricist, designer, filmmaker, and the best-known street theatre person in India. A month later, he was killed for daring to align his art with the cause of the working class.