While the papers were going gaga over Sachin’s stupendous feat, it also modestly reported the MF Hussain story. While the story did not gain the mileage it should’ve, it was yet another defeat of the secular India that our leaders had fought for. The Hindu Taliban won again as we continue our steady march towards becoming a Hindu Rashtra where minorities cower and dare not meddle with the Brave majority.
It’s time our bourgeoisie intelligentsia wakes up, shrugs off it’s mask of nonchalance and takes up the cudgels on behalf of a 95 year weary, old man who is too tired to fight his own countrymen. It’s time the isolated voices unite and become a movement requesting the return of the one who was once hailed as the ‘Picasso of India’ by Forbes. The Government could have convinced him easily. Shamefully, they chose not to ‘hurt sentiments’ again.
Nudity has been a part of India’s iconography since centuries. Besides, what good is art if it does not provoke or trigger a debate? But then, the country of Hussain’s choosing is equally worse. He would be allowed to paint as many naked Gods and Goddesses as he wants, but can he paint an Arab woman in the nude? Or can he roam famously barefooted in Qatar? Will he have gushing fans in a land where artistic freedom is still a foreign concept? And will have any outraged fan to stand by him if he rubs the Qatari Royalty the wrong way?
Still, Hussain’s rejection of India is a shameful indictment of a nation that has treated it’s most famous face so callously. Thousands of Indians give up their citizenship willingly every year to become citizens of U.S., Canada or Australia and we have no shame in claiming them as our sons and daughters every time they make it big. Hussain, on the other hand, walked barefoot into the greatest of International galleries and made the country proud each time. And we shunted him out of the country. I shudder to put myself in his shoes. We don’t deserve someone like MF Hussain. He could’ve so easily and deservingly been Bharat Ratna. (India’s Jewel)
Shame.
6 Grumblings:
Give him to us... we'l kill him for what he does. Pun intended.
Bro, you would have not had such perceptions if you would have seen his paintings depicting Indian Gods and Goddesses. First of all, he is a total fanatic. Am saying this because never in his carrier he has painted any depictions of his religion. He has only tried to mess with Hindu sentiments. Secondly, you mentioned about Hindu Taliban, these 2 words can never be together. just consider him still alive even after all this. taliban won't do tht. Thirdly, the ancient naked art was 'sensious' and Depicted 'Nirvana' which is accepted but his paintings are disrespecting, disgusting. He has no knowledge about our religion, so he has no right to depict it in a form which is totally unacceptable.Lastly you mention about Hinduism dominating in our country, but sorry bro again you are wrong.Hisory is evidence that Extremism and Hiduism have never been aligned.otherwise today whole of south Asia would have been Hindu Nation.
Lastly to point out ' he has not left India, Indians have kicked him out' Jai Hind, Jai Maharashtra!
@ siddhesh,
art knows no religion. Mr. hussain, is an artist and not a devoted fanatic religious crusader. and mind u, 'his' religion doesnt not, in the first place, hav a visible god or goddess he'd paint. We indians seem to have mastered the knack of transforming any event into a 'religious'controversy!
Is 'sensious-or-vulgar' not a matter of our own percetion?
If we cannot value an art, of which we know little, we should at least, not disrespect it.
@ ayyo,
i concur. but the way of putting it could hav been much better.
I think the hurt sentiments of the select few so-called votaries of Indian ethos is hardly the issue here.
The issue that we need to be concerned about is that an artist is denied his right to express himself in a country that boasts of secularism and pluralism.
The only way forward for the country is one where the extremist sections of the society become much more tolerant, in order to encourage social and cultural growth of any kind.
i agree 100% with what Sidhesh says.
other than jai maharashtra;) i would be satisfied with jai hind:)
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