Samir One important point in this entire discussion on MF Hussain which everyone seems to be missing out is that the so called offensive paintings were created over 40 years ago. They were exhibited in art galleries, viewed by artists and art connoisseurs and did not raise anyone's hackles.
However, in the 90's at the height of the hindutva movement,( remember, the Babri Masjid was demolished in December, 1992), the hindutvavadis tried to rake up anything and everything that could be used as a weapon to incite the public and create a communal divide which could be exploited for electoral gain. Therefore, the Hubli Idgah maidan issue, Haji Malang issue in Kalyan, Bababudangiri shrine, Chickmagalur, Karnataka and several others. At this point of time sometime in 1996 some hindutva organisations dredged out these two paintings out of some 10000 paintings done by MFH and put them on public display accompanied of course with shrill communal rhetoric. The organisation which took a lead in this was the HJS / SS whose credentials are too well known and who were in the news recently for the bomb blasts in Margao and elsewhere which was targetted at hindus. So much for their sense of anger at the paintings!!! It is also interesting to note that when challenged in court, the Delhi HC and the Supreme Court held there was nothing objectionable in the paintings. Delhi High Court in May 2008 clearly stated the obvious: "A painter has his own perspective of looking at things and it cannot be the basis of initiating criminal proceedings against him...In India, new puritanism is being carried out in the name of cultural purity and a host of ignorant people are vandalizing art and pushing us towards a pre-renaissance era". The Chief Justice of India K.G.Balakrishan had the best response to the question when, while upholding the Delhi HC decision, he said: “There are so many such subjects, photographs and publications. Will you file cases against all of them? It (Husain’s work) is art. If you don’t want to see it, then don’t see it. There are so many such art forms in the (Hindu) temple structures.” The main point to note also is that these paintings were not in public places and were in private collections, rarely exhibited and that too in rarefied exhibitions attended by people who by no stretch of imagination would have been offended by them, at exclusive galleries. All of them were done many, many years back. Those who claimed to be hurt by these paintings were the ones who went about putting these paintings in the public domain. MFH is being made a scapegoat because he is a muslim. He is being used as a pawn in the larger battle being fought by communal forces who wish to secure political power. Had he been a hindu, possibly there would have been a few protests and the matter would have died down a la Subodh Kerkar affaire. It is also a matter for all people to think whether violence or threats of violence is acceptable in any protest or disagreement. In the Taslima issue too, Taslima is a merely a pawn in the larger battle for votes.The hindutva lobbly does not love her but is using her to hurt the muslims since some of her writings raise the hackles of fundamentalist muslims. West Bengal has a large muslim population, and in order not to lose their votes, the Left front as well as the 'secular' parties like the Congress or TC are pandering to the muslim extremists. Annd so the chain goes on. There is a valid point in the argument that the state and the secular lobby have not been equally fair and firm with muslim extremists whether in the Shah Bano affair, or the Salman Rushdie matter or the Taslima issue. So where do we go from here? Continue this game of brinkmanship or set up standards for others to follow? All in all, hindutva is giving hinduism a bad name. Hinduism has through the ages welcomed and sheltered all religions. Nowhere in the world will one see the portraits of all types of gods and deities displayed, and treated with equal respect, like I have seen in roadside dhabbas, sugarcane juice stalls, transport buses, shops, offices in India. I lived in Gurgaon for two years and had a Punjabi Hindu as my neighbour. I was surprised to see a painting of the Last Supper prominently displayed on the wall of her living room. The lady explained to me that this was a gift to her husband, an army officer, and they revered it knowing the full story and background. Another Punjabi Hindu neighbour to whom I used to send my children for tutions in Hindi, requested me obtain a Bible in large font size for her aged father-in-law as he was very happy and keen on reading stories from the bible.These are the kind of people who practice the essense of hinduism and not those protesting against MFH. Regards, Marshall