HVK Archives: IE: "Hussain's brush with Hindutva ....."
IE: "Hussain's brush with Hindutva ....." - The Indian Express
Antara Dev Sen
()
8 October 1996
Title : Husain's brush with Hindutva sets artists
canvassing for freedom
Author : Antara Dev Sen
Publication : The Indian Express
Date : October 8, 1996
The maverick painter is in the spotlight again. And maybe for once,
regretting it. M F Husain's paintings of Hindu goddesses, including that
of Saraswati, the goddess of learning, has created quite a stir due to
their lack of clothes.
Of course, the paintings are not new. Nor is the tradi- tion of portraying
Hindu gods in stark anatomical detail. And if anyone has doubts about
whether or not gods wear clothes outside of Amar Chitra Katha, maybe they
should take a trip to Ajanta. Or Khajuraho.
Artistic expression has ensured that the living rock has remarkably
lifelike breasts, not to mention the 'male members' that haunt the Indian
pantheon. Hindu gods and Jain Tirthankaras have stood proud in their
unrobed glory for centuries. Not to mention the graphic details of
creation that Tantra art seeks to provide.
But now all that seems to be forgotten as the dress code becomes a divine
issue. It all began when a certain academic known for his pro-Hindutva
stance aired his strong objections to this Muslim painter's portrayal of
Hindu goddesses in a magazine of Madhya Pradesh. An enthusiastic women's
group took up the issue with the MP Government and before you could say
Maqbool, the painter found himself in deep legal trouble.
Husain faces a series of lawsuits in MP Maharashtra's Cultural Minister
wants him in jail. And the crime branch of Maharashtra police have
whipped out their magnifying glasses to inspect the 'obscene paintings' in
greater detail.
However, the country's intellectuals have sprung to the defence of the
barefoot painter's right to the bare portrayal of divinity. There have
been signature cam- paigns across the country, roping in painters, writers
and others from Delhi, Bombay and Calcutta to support the freedom of
artistic expression.
Eminent personalities like Haku Shah, Manu Parekh, Parma- jit Singh, M K
Raina, Mrinal Pandey and Akbar Padamsee have appealed to the Maharashtra
Government to stop hounding Husain, since "the nude is nothing new to our
tradition and our temples at Khajuraho, Konark and Bhuba- neswar are ample
evidence of it, not to speak of the murals at Ajanta." And even former
prime minister V P Singh, a painter himself, has appealed to the
Maharashtra Government "to refrain from this anti-democratic action."
"(Husain's) paintings are not intended as an affront to anyone or to
disrespect any deity, but are part of an artistic exercise," states Singh.
"As far as obscenity is concerned, it is only in the eyes of the beholder.
Even in temples Hindu gods and goddesses are depicted nude. The body is
sanctified by god and we arrive in the world nude." Of course, there are
artists who do not believe that such art can be termed 'nude' at all.
Says painter Manu Parekh: "Traditional Hindu sculptures and paintings are
of the body. There may be a suggestion of costume, but the emphasis is on
the body. And there is a sensuousness in it, a spiritual sensuousness
that is our heritage and tradition. It should not be read wrongly. It is
easy to call it 'naked' when it may not be so."
But others feel that nudity doesn't imply obscenity. "Husain's Saraswati
is a very fine work," says painter Arpita Singh. "There are so many
things to object to - like a lot of scenes in Hindi films - why object to
this? Husain is a very fine painter and he has not deviated from our
tradition. The whole artistic community is with Husain. This is
unnecessary politicisation of art."
Says Ashok Vajpayee, poet and a leading intellectual from MP: "In the
first place. in our artistic tradition - whether painting, sculpture,
dance, music or poetry - the human element of god is very important.
Secondly, Husain is a great artist and belongs to Indian culture, which
has a rich ichnography from all religions. He has for years been
depicting aspects of the Ramayana and Mahabharata. He picks up popular
icons as well, like Mother Teresa, Amitabh Bachchan or Madhuri Dixit.
There is no tendency in Husain that can be communalised at all."
In fact, it is widely believed that the tendency to communalise this issue
is a pre-poll gimmick of the BJP. But intellectuals within the BJP have a
problem with the attack as well. "The painting is not obscene in the
least," says writer Sudhindra Kulkarni, a firm believer in Hindutva. "I
fell very pained that people associated with Hindutva have raised this
controversy. It is con- demnable. It is very stupid, if not based on
ulterior motives. It brings intolerance into society and gives a bad name
to Hinduism - which stands for tolerance intel- lectual freedom and
artistic expression."
In fact, Kulkarni points out that sensuality is a part of human life and
is thus also divine. "Husain has done a series of 10 painting called
Theorama, presenting the great religions of India and the world from a
humanistic point of view," he says. "Rather than rake up controver- sies,
we should be proud that a person born a Muslim is treating Hindu subjects
with such reverence." And Vaj- payee reminds you that traditional Hindu
music has to a large extent been preserved by Muslim maestros.
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