The Great Media Dance

[pvraman]

Share:

Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn WhatsApp Email Share Link

M.F.Husain's had to go out of country due to the pending cases and the sentiments of angry hindu fundamentalists. Can He not fight it out legally? N. Ram feels, what kind of secular country is our's, driving a old man & great painter out to satisfy few hindu fundamentalists. Personally I don't find fault with his creativity in his nude drawings of Hindu gods. In our secular country, anybody can abuse Hinduism or need not care about the sentiments of Hindus even though he/she may be a symbol of other religions.

In this regard, media is doing a fine job.

While being a rare honour, Mr. Husain’s impending change of nationality brings to a close one of the sorriest chapters in independent India’s secular history. Mr. Husain’s time of troubles began in 1996, after a Hindi monthly published an inflammatory article on his paintings of Hindu deities done in the 1970s. This led to a slew of criminal cases, filed in far-flung places, which alleged in the main that the artist had hurt the feelings of Hindus through his paintings. Mr. Husain estimates that there are 900 cases against him in various courts of India. He has been harassed by fanatical mobs. Exhibitions of his work have been vandalised. All this has created a fear of exhibiting his work in India.

I have personally accompanied Mr. Husain to court proceedings in Indore and have first-hand experience of the harassment and terror he faced from bigoted mobs. I received him in Mumbai on his return from the first of his temporary exiles and saw what insecurity and uncertainty this creative genius had to endure in rising India

N. Ram

The Hindu : Front Page : M. F. Husain gets Qatar nationality

The issue of artist M F Husain accepting Qatari citizenship found an echo in the Lok Sabha with CPM member Ramachandra Dome terming this a "shame" for the country.

Raising the issue during zero hour, Dome said Husain was an artist of international repute and it was sad and "shameful for the country" that in his old age, he had to stay abroad.

Husain taking Qatari citizenship a shame for India: CPM - India - The Times of India

"I still love India. But India doesn't need me. I am saying this with deep pain in heart," Husain told Gulf Madhyamam, Kerala-based Malayalam daily Madhyamam's Doha edition, in an interview.

"India is my motherland. I can't hate my motherland. But India rejected me. Then why should I stay in India?" the 95-year-old painter said in his first interview after accepting Qatar citizenship.

I love India but the country rejected me, says M F Husain - India - The Times of India

On being asked about reports that said he was choosing to move to Qatar because he felt threatened in India, the painter categorically said, "I totally deny them." When prodded about the media reports, he added, "It's the privilege of the media to say what it likes, we live in a great democracy."

Whether he wanted to come back to India at all, Husain was clear: "Of course I'll come back.

I totally deny any threat to my life: Husain - India - The Times of India


With two exclusive interviews to N Ram and TOI with CPM chipping in, he is blazing. Hopefully Taslima Nasrin & Salman Rushdi should also get media's attention & CPM's sympathy. Afterall, they are not less creative in their respective field. Its my opinion.

 

[SuryaKasyapa]

a link from sify.com:


Grow up, Mr M F Husain

 

[T.S.Sankara Narayanan]

Only in our Country,we have so many Lady Godess.We even imagined Bharat Mata, that also A Lady.If he (Hussain) belives it or not,it is his bounded duty to Honour 85 percent of people who have belifs in the worship.Just as the Proverb,"Be a Roman when youre in Rome" he has to respect the belif of the Majority community of a Country.
He may be a Good Artist. At the same time he must know to Honour Others,especially majority community.Majority or Minority that is not at all a question.It is his bounded duty to respect Others Feelings and Belifs.
Once (I think during 70s),the Dravida Kazagam men wrote on wall Paintings....
"Annai Mary Kanni Yendral Jesus Pirandhadu Yeppady ?"
"786 enna Allavin Phone Numbara ?"
Immediately Christians and Muslims gathered in Huge Mass in all districts and blocked the roads.At that time also Kalaingar was the CM in TN.
He compromised Muslims and Christians at that time and find it very difficult to bring back Law and Order in State.
If we belive or not it is our duty to honour other religion.
We have no right to Critisise other Religion unless we were directly attacked.That is what Hussain did.
Has he has Gutts to draw Sonias Face instead of Saraswathy face in his drawing.?

 

[pvraman]

We do not mind how he can not show his creativity against the religion he belongs to, but, symbols of Sanadhana Dharma is always a free for all wheel in this "democrazy" country. Unless, hindus unite as for as deciding their representatives, keeping as a main agenda, the abuses will not end. The great dance of media to the tune of minority is due to the absence of our patriotism.

முன்னாடியெல்லாம், ஒரு செய்தி "பேப்பர்லேயே போட்டுட்டாங்க!" என்பார்கள். இன்றைக்கு, பேப்பரோட மரியாதை எங்க இருக்கு.

 

[Nara]

We do not mind how he can not show his creativity against the religion he belongs to, but, symbols of Sanadhana Dharma

If anything, this should be a matter of pride isn't, that Hinuds do not get agitated like the Muslims? If the Hindus also want to go after the Hussains, why are Hindus any better than the radical Muslims?

Cheers!

 

[pvraman]

DPNJ,

If anything, this should be a matter of pride isn't, that Hinuds do not get agitated like the Muslims? If the Hindus also want to go after the Hussains, why are Hindus any better than the radical Muslims?

Cheers!

I fully of the view that we need not argue why he is not using his creativity against other religion. But we question why he is doing that to Hindu goddess and Bharata mata. We dont question had he shown consistency with other religions. I fail to understand why Media do not question that.

Cheers

 

[nachi naga]

folks,

huswine is a deviant.had he protrayed 'all ah' or prohphet,he would be sliced to bits and pieces.the world is witnessing,the philosophy of an eye for an eye,leading to havoc,all in the name of protecting,ones version of god.even prophet had to flee from mecca to medina,as he himself was hounded!!christ was crucified in the most torturous cross!!no wonder sanathana dharma has only one or two temples of worship for brahmaa popularly known as abraham in abrahamic faiths.the quran has been insulted by huswine,the curse of allah is on qatar,for providing refuge,to a senile deviant of art.

nachi naga.

 

[anandb]

Sri. Nara,

If anything, this should be a matter of pride isn't, that Hinuds do not get agitated like the Muslims? If the Hindus also want to go after the Hussains, why are Hindus any better than the radical Muslims?

Cheers!

I think this is more about standing up and defending one's rights. As long as the protests are not violent, the point that we cannot tolerate this nonsense from MFH should be driven across. MFH lives in Dubai in exile and has now acquired Qatari citizenship. In these countries, if he had sketched anything about Islam in the name of artistic freedom, they would have cut off his private parts. He should be happy that at least a large section of the secular brigade in India is still rooting for him.

 

[KRS]

I think that very few people here who speak against Sri MFH Ji understand the art form of iconography in modern art, let alone the modern art. Because art in our religion and culture has been restricted to the God's images, we do not appreciate anything else. Even Rajah Ravi Varma's portrayals of common folks were not appreciated by our community till he was recognized by the westerners.

In my opinion, Sri MFH was not degrading Hindu Gods. His fearlessness to choose to depict them as he did only shows his respect to our liberal Hindu sensibilities, where as we know, even Lord Ganesha is portrayed in different irreverant poses. He is a great Indian and we should be proud of him from a secular point of view.

Only people with narrow ideology see him as a muslim. I see him as a fully vested Indian, carrying the full heritage of India.

Regards,
KRS

 

[Nara]

....Sri MFH [....] He is a great Indian and we should be proud of him from a secular point of view.

Dear KRS, it warms my heart to read your post. I just can't understand a liberal democracy that can't protect MFH or give refuge to Taslima who loves nothing more than being part of the Bengali culture of Calcutta.

Shame on those who wax eloquent about how tolerant Hinduism is, but sympathize with repressive attitudes that remind us of Taliban. You can't be half pregnant, and neither can you be half tolerant of freedom of expression.

Back in the early 80's, in the U.S., there was an instance of an artist exhibiting a crucifix immersed in urine as art. There was a furor, not about the right of the artist, but about federal funding for such art. MFH's sins are nothing close to this.

Our religious iconography is very sensual. There are some Azhavr pasurams that can make a grown man blush. Irony is indeed wasted with the Hindutva crowd who, while opposing the Christians on one hand, have embraced their prudishness with gusto.

Cheers!

 

[KRS]

Dear Prof. Nara Ji,

I fully agree with your views on this topic.

In fact, I was going to cite the poor Sow. Taslima's travails here, but did not as I thought I have conveyed my ideas fully.

Our Hindutva friends are no different from the other fundamentalists from other religions. But there is a crucial difference. While Hinduism inherently teaches tolerance towards other religions, others do not follow suit.

But that is what(the tolerance), I think makes us different and good to emulate. When we veer off from this, we do a disservice to Hinduism.

By now, I hope you understand that I am a free thinker and do not subscribe to any specific ideology that fits for all occassions.

Regards,
KRS

Dear KRS, it warms my heart to read your post. I just can't understand a liberal democracy that can't protect MFH or give refuge to Taslima who loves nothing more than being part of the Bengali culture of Calcutta.

Shame on those who wax eloquent about how tolerant Hinduism is, but sympathize with repressive attitudes that remind us of Taliban. You can't be half pregnant, and neither can you be half tolerant of freedom of expression.

Back in the early 80's, in the U.S., there was an instance of an artist exhibiting a crucifix immersed in urine as art. There was a furor, not about the right of the artist, but about federal funding for such art. MFH's sins are nothing close to this.

Our religious iconography is very sensual. There are some Azhavr pasurams that can make a grown man blush. Irony is indeed wasted with the Hindutva crowd who, while opposing the Christians on one hand, have embraced their prudishness with gusto.

Cheers!

 

[hariharan1972]

prof nara ji and sri krs ji,

i think too much is being read into mfh accepting qatari citizenship.

i have my own views about the paintings which is not central to the issue. to me, the fact that the paintings were 'found to be offensive' a good decade or so after they were painted is good enough to suggest the political machinations working overtime.

so why am i responding to you, you may be wondering.

3 points.

a) mfh's decision is not only due to the hounding from the hindutva elements but also due to monetary considerations.

b) whenever there is a blip in our 'secularism radar', the blame is very quickly affixed on the hindutva elements. my counter to this is, whether the country is ruled by a supposedly secular government sworn to a supposedly secular constitution or is it ruled by the hindutva elements ?

if an avowdely secular government can be coerced into inaction (afterall upa 1 was in power for 5 years !) by a handful of hindutva elements, how secular are they in the first place ?

what is effectively the difference between hindutva (read bjp) and the supposedly secular parties (read non bjp) ?

brazely anti-minority is hindutva while tacitly anti-minority is secular ? is this what we are reducing the definition of secularism to ?

more than the bjp, it is the supposedly so called secular parties who have to hang their heads in shame (if at all) because the bjp atleast was bold enough to oppose openly.

c) i am more than just amused about how 'liberalism' of hinduism is being used in arguments. supposedly the greatest strength of hinduism, is surreptiously being used against the religion to it's detriment.

already the christians are trying their best to blur the difference between christianity and hinduism ; in few years mother mary would in all probability be krishna's mother !

islam is brazenly breeding terrorism in the hope that terrorism would breed islam.

so where does the hindu run to ? pushed to the wall, he is desperate for an escape route and citing liberal values, we are endangering the very existence of a great religion.

with all the assertiveness at my disposal, let me say this : india has remained a secular country only because it is a hindu majority nation. the day it ceases to be a hindu majority nation (despite all the warts of casteism), the race would be between mary and mohammed as to who gets the spoils.

and btw, mfh is no picasso. he is just an average painter by international standards overrated by indians.

i appreciate modern art fully except that i cannot quite make up whether the painting is hung correctly or upside down

 

[nachi naga]

re

The Kings and Queens allowed scuptures of arts,in temple architecture was mainly owing to the influence of religion those days.When the ruler found his people totally immersed in bhakthi,the population started dwindling.People were not aroused at all in the 'kama' part of life.Therefore such erotic art was encouraged.

But what huswine has done is perversion.That too conveniently choosing hindu icons for his art.let huswine draw pictures of prophet,amina begum,sheik al-cooum,if he wants.That rogue needs to be punished despite his being senior citizen of any nationality.

Indians have enough art sense to appreciate art,sculpture from time immemorial.

We certainly dont need any certificates from any tom,dick and hari(hope thomas,Dickens and Hari Truman dont get mad at me).

nachi naga.

 

[nachi naga]

re

nara,
knowing very well you will not respond directly to me,neverthless,as a practicing hindu,i should reply to your agnostic post.

Shame on those who wax eloquent about how tolerant Hinduism is, but sympathize with repressive attitudes that remind us of Taliban. You can't be half pregnant, and neither can you be half tolerant of freedom of expression.
Back in the early 80's, in the U.S., there was an instance of an artist exhibiting a crucifix immersed in urine as art. There was a furor, not about the right of the artist, but about federal funding for such art. MFH's sins are nothing close to this.
Our religious iconography is very sensual. There are some Azhavr pasurams that can make a grown man blush. Irony is indeed wasted with the Hindutva crowd who, while opposing the Christians on one hand, have embraced their prudishness with gusto.

Shame on you sir,for picking on hindus and christians in particular.Dont you have any agnostic tamil web forum,to while away your time in your old age?
In the USA christians do not openly send fatwas,but in-directly finish a person.You of all the person living in USA should know this.As far as prudishness is concerned,our population speaks for it.I rest my case.
Our late prime minister shri morarji desai,encouraged auto-urino therapy.Maybe thats why janata party stinks on account of such bizare therapies of our late leaders.Wonder what subbu has say about his leaders penchant!!!!
Reading azhvars pasurams and quoting it out of context,just proves how low one can get even in ripe old age.
nachi naga.

 

[Nara]

.... While Hinduism inherently teaches tolerance towards other religions, others do not follow suit.

Dear Shri KRS, Greetings!

I will savor our brief moment of agreement. But, alas, it is a brief moment, for I have to take issue with the claim Hinduism is inherently tolerant.

Here is one dictionary definition of tolerance:

a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one's own; freedom from bigotry.
​

Over the centuries, Hindus only had contempt for non-vedic religions. Outsiders were mlecchas, worse than Candala. Contempt is not tolerance.

The Vedic religion replaced non-vedic religion in India not through the might of the pen alone, but by the might of the sword. Many a Budda Vihars and Jaina temples were changed over to Hindu temples by the blade. There is evidence to indicate that the grand ole Thiruppati Thirumalai temple was originally a Jain temple.

Further down, during the Bhakthi movement there was acute intolerance between the Saivas and Vaishnavas. Sword was put to good use.

During the golden age of Chola empire of Raja Raja and Rajendra, their version of Hinduism was spread around East Asia by the sword.

Finally, the varna/caste system an integral part of Hinduism, is an intolerant system.

Tolerance comes from wisdom, not religion. There are tolerant people from every religion.

Cheers!

 

[nachi naga]

nara

There is evidence to indicate that the grand ole Thiruppati Thirumalai temple was originally a Jain temple.

If such a evidence existed at all,why Jains are not claiming it?instead an agnostic perpetuates a rumor?In fact the Tirumala Temple has Tamizh writings in the inner sanctorum of the temple.During the partition of states,it was agreed mutually,that Andhra Pradesh will have Tirumala Temple.Just becoz kings and queens of yester years changed their religion becoz a newer philosopher was in the horizon does not make it a jain temple.The jains themselves have not placed any evidence in any court of law,let alone in the forum.

Tolerance comes from wisdom, not religion. There are tolerant people from every religion.

So,you are wise in agnostic tatva.There is no dispute that there are tolerant people in every religion becoz every religion today is from sanathana dharma only.sooner or later the world will acknowledge this.Tolerance comes from religious people with wisdom is the correct way to write,imho,as only wisdom without people,is a moot point.And their religion could very well be nir-iswara vadam tatvas,like charavakkans.

nachi naga.

 

[Nara]

i appreciate modern art fully except that i cannot quite make up whether the painting is hung correctly or upside down

Dear Hari,
Got a hearty laugh out of this one. I have a few modern-art pieces painted by my son and I had the same difficulty much to his chagrin.

Freedom of expression is a mark of a mature liberal democracy. Islamic fundamentalists are forcing western governments to test the limits of their secularism and freedoms. People with political agenda try to cultivate and exploit the fears of common people. Progressives try to push back, not often successfully. It is a struggle, everywhere, not just in India.

Whether it is MFH or Taslima, the liberal democrats must stay united and oppose the tendency to intimidate. Hindutva extremism is just as bad for the nation as Islamic extremism. NDA or UPA it does not matter.

Cheers!

 

[Nara]

...
knowing very well you will not respond directly to me,

Nachi, I have conversations with people who do not agree with me all the time. As I said earlier, I will respond to you also, if you make serious points without any antics.

 

[pvraman]

Dear Sri Nara Ji,

The Vedic religion replaced non-vedic religion in India

I am interested to know what was the non-vedic religion was there in india before vedic-religion if we prefer to call. Even the supporter of AIT (which is now changed to AMT - invasion to migration) says Vedic-religion pre dates other religion in India.

Regards

 

[nachi naga]

re

Nachi, I have conversations with people who do not agree with me all the time. As I said earlier, I will respond to you also, if you make serious points without any antics.

nara,why are you so mean to me?:noidea:

nachi naga.

 

[Nara]

...I am interested to know what was the non-vedic religion was there in india before vedic-religion if we prefer to call.

PVR, I was referring to the time frame roughly 6th century CE when Buddism and jainsm were swept aside by Brahminism.

thanks...

 

[N.R.Ranganathan]

The Great media dance

Dear sri KRSji,

For a long time I did not visit this Forum, and when I did recently
I was looking for our familiar friends. At last, I am glad to see your
post in this thread. As a scientist-philosopher, your views are ever
liberal and not confined to dogmas. We must accept any idea, even
if it comes out of the mouth of God, only after subjecting it to
analysis. Our scriptures and our sages have repeatedly said this.
Sri Adi Sankara, an expert in polemics, has always put forward the
likely objections that may emanate, answered these hypothetical
objections, and repeated this several times before he established
his thesis.

Everyone has a right to self-realization and this is our sanatana
dharma. We may traverse thru' different paths of course.

with kind regards,

 

[pvraman]

Dear Sri Nara Ji,

PVR, I was referring to the time frame roughly 6th century CE when Buddism and jainsm were swept aside by Brahminism.

thanks...

Thanks for the reply. Brahminism was over powered by Buddism before 3rd century, so can we call this as essentially "The return of Brahminism...". So the spreading the religion by sword, can we say, ironically started from Buddism (3rd Century BC.. approx.).

Regards

 

[anandb]

Sri Hariharan,

prof nara ji and sri krs ji,

i think too much is being read into mfh accepting qatari citizenship.

i have my own views about the paintings which is not central to the issue. to me, the fact that the paintings were 'found to be offensive' a good decade or so after they were painted is good enough to suggest the political machinations working overtime.

so why am i responding to you, you may be wondering.

3 points.

a) mfh's decision is not only due to the hounding from the hindutva elements but also due to monetary considerations.

b) whenever there is a blip in our 'secularism radar', the blame is very quickly affixed on the hindutva elements. my counter to this is, whether the country is ruled by a supposedly secular government sworn to a supposedly secular constitution or is it ruled by the hindutva elements ?

if an avowdely secular government can be coerced into inaction (afterall upa 1 was in power for 5 years !) by a handful of hindutva elements, how secular are they in the first place ?

what is effectively the difference between hindutva (read bjp) and the supposedly secular parties (read non bjp) ?

brazely anti-minority is hindutva while tacitly anti-minority is secular ? is this what we are reducing the definition of secularism to ?

more than the bjp, it is the supposedly so called secular parties who have to hang their heads in shame (if at all) because the bjp atleast was bold enough to oppose openly.

c) i am more than just amused about how 'liberalism' of hinduism is being used in arguments. supposedly the greatest strength of hinduism, is surreptiously being used against the religion to it's detriment.

already the christians are trying their best to blur the difference between christianity and hinduism ; in few years mother mary would in all probability be krishna's mother !

islam is brazenly breeding terrorism in the hope that terrorism would breed islam.

so where does the hindu run to ? pushed to the wall, he is desperate for an escape route and citing liberal values, we are endangering the very existence of a great religion.

with all the assertiveness at my disposal, let me say this : india has remained a secular country only because it is a hindu majority nation. the day it ceases to be a hindu majority nation (despite all the warts of casteism), the race would be between mary and mohammed as to who gets the spoils.

and btw, mfh is no picasso. he is just an average painter by international standards overrated by indians.

i appreciate modern art fully except that i cannot quite make up whether the painting is hung correctly or upside down

Brilliantly put. I actually pity Hindusim. Probably the only religion which has to battle evangelising Christians, Jihadi Muslims, the secular brigade, atheists and agnostics (only those who constantly poke fun at Hinduism and its icons). Today I read a report about Germany criticizing the Vatican because of its policy of papal secrecy on the ever increasing sexual scandals in the Catholic Church. It was a very small news item in Gulf News here. Contrary, a few days back there was almost a full page report on sexual scandals of Hindu gurus and the ashram where
people got killed in a stampede. GN had the temerity to run an editorial saying shame on India as a democracy for having allowed Hussain to get Qatari citizenship. The same newspaper was running pages criticizing the PBUH Danish cartoon episode at that time. So much for fairness.

 

[pvraman]

Feel the tone here

Regards