Husain should return to his 'culturally exuberant' India
Submitted by admin3 on 1 March 2010 - 11:36am
By Mayank Chhaya, IANS,
A quarter century ago sitting amid designer chaos of paintings and sketches in various stages of completion in his Cuffe Parade apartment in then more-tolerant Bombay, painter Maqbool Fida Husain had a telling response to a question about being Indian.
"I am not an Indian merely because I was born here but because India's cultural exuberance made an artist out of me," Husain, then 70 and already firmly perched on his formidable reputation as one of India's greatest painters, had said. As India today debates his decision to give up his Indian nationality and choose to be an honorary citizen of Qatar, it is much more about Husain ceding ground to the lunatic rightwing fringe than just a change of passports.
It is perhaps unfair to expect a 95-year-old painter, who faced real physical danger from bigots before he left India in 2006, to fight a battle for loftier ideals. But an unintended consequence of his renouncing Indian citizenship could be to embolden the very lunatic fringe that the liberal India ought to challenge.
It is true that Husain has led his peripatetic life more in the mould of a detached world citizen than a constricted Indian nationalist but he has frequently let it be known that at his core he remains Indian. While he does not have to live in India to assert his cultural identity, the circumstances under which he has chosen to disengage ends up undermining a lot of what he stands for.
His choice of Qatar to forsake his Indian nationality is a conspicuously bad judgment if his intention was to make a larger philosophical statement about artistic freedom. Qatar may be a marginally more moderate regime in a region notorious for its unabashed suppression of great many personal freedoms, but it is no shining example that can be held up as a counter to India. At best it is erroneous and at worst it is egregious for him to take this step. If it was about expressing profound personal anguish at being practically hounded out of India, an artist of Husain's stature could have chosen many other clearly more democratic countries.
Despite his well known quirks such as moving about unshod and fraternising with sections of society that the elites in India wince at the mention of, Husain has for decades been a much sought after presence in the rarefied circles anywhere in the world. To that extent his decision was obviously not influenced by any consideration of being in the proximity of royalty or movers and shakers as he is in Qatar and elsewhere. It is not right to second-guess his motivations other than concerns about personal safety at an age where a minor fall in the bathroom could prove devastating. However, somewhere along the line strongly felt emotions at having been let down by his home country would have played a significant role.
Husain has seen enough life, certainly way more than his detractors, to know that the kind he has chosen comes with its own intrinsic hazards. While he may not have anticipated the hazards of the kind he had to eventually confront, he ought to have been conscious of something approximate. Without minimizing his genuine sense of loss, it is possible to argue that Husain may also see this turn of events as a fitting twist to a gloriously eccentric life.
Husain understood before anybody else the value of creating stories and idiosyncrasies over and above his resplendent talent. He recognized very early that people are drawn to the superficial first and then perhaps to something more substantial and deeper. Trimmings are a great way to lure people in. They want the art as much as the artist. So while there may be equally talented painters in India, there is none quite like Husain in creating irresistible folklore about his art. A fine recent example of that attribute was Husain painting a silvery white Arabian stallion.
On balance, Husain's decision should be of grave concern in so much as it bolsters the lunatic fringe, which may not be just a fringe, that uses his exile as a triumph that can be replicated in many similar instances. This is particularly because Husain knows well that as complex multicultural, multi-religious and multilingual societies go India is still easily one of the most tolerant. That alone is a worthwhile India, which he called culturally exuberant, to return to.
(1.03.2010-Mayank Chhaya is a US-based writer. He can be contacted at m@literateworld.com)
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Why Can't MF Say Sorry!
Dear All,
I just cannot understand why should not MF say simply sorry to the community that is hurt by his paintings. Saying that pornography has been there in ancient sculptures and thus all the nude paintings of Hindu mythological characters shall only be accepted without uttering any protest by the Hindus doesn’t seem to be a valid argument to me. As Constitution of India guaranteed freedom of expression to individuals it has also given certain responsibilities to the citizen one among them is to see to it that we did not hurt the feeling of the others we are staying along with. It is not true that only Hinduvadis/RSS/Bajarangis are hurt to see MF’s paintings of nudity it has also hurt the common Hindus and thus if MF had understood their sentiments and had told with a big heart sorry to them there would not have been an issue at all. After all he had earned so much name and fame staying in India and he had been conferred so many awards and rewards here in India all these days, it is evident that he is very sad being far from his mother land then what is it that prevents a 95 year old gentleman to come in terms with reality. Can’t this gentleman say sorry to his own countrymen and come back to his motherland? If he has such a larger ego which do not allow him to say “Sorry if I had hurt you and I promise I will not repeat these acts again..” to his own countrymen then he can easily choose Qatar or any other country he wish which can tolerate him with all his “Unconvincing” acts.
I am extremely sorry if my comments hurt MFs fans.
Note:- I request the contributors to not to see the issue as a religious one despite the fact that it was blown up by VHP/RSS/Bajrandal I have many such Hindu friends who do not subscribe to any of these Hinduvadis groups but felt extremely sad of MF targeting their Devis for pornographic paintings.
Sorry for what ???
Say SORRY for WHAT Aftab !!! For painting truth ???
BTW (by the way), are you Aftab or Amitabh ???
SORRY from the Octogenarian may please those who are preaching and practicing MACHOOISM / INJUSTICE. They are not awaiting for a SORRY, but they are trying to attract CHEAP publicity.
Is KAMASUTRA a practice, practiced or innovated by Muslims ???
Are AJANTA & ELLORA Temple carvings, depicting NAKED ORGIES, a work of Muslims ???
Is bathing naked in front of public and TV-cameras at KUMBH Mela, by Sadhus an act of Muslims ???
Let those who are seeking a SORRY from Octogenarian Artist, first seek a SORRY from above, or ban / destroy these nude statues; then maybe Octogenarian Artist may consider an apology !!!
An Indian
An Indian .. bee cool
Dear "An Indian"
Whether I am Amitabh or Aftab should not bother you please rather concentrate on the content what I was trying to convey. I have sensed (and in fact already seen) that the issue is being seen as a Muslim-Hindu issue by both Sanghis and so called secularists also where as my feeling is that this incident (nude paintings of Hindu Devis) had hurt even the common Hindu to which I have been a witness. Just because MF (a namesake Muslim) painted these paintings that too of Hindu dieties we need not to support him .. that is what I stand to stay. All your theories of KS,Temple Carvings or bathnig naked by Naga Sadhus do not hold any substance becuase the paintings of MF had shown Indian Devis in sexual involvement with animal (also). There might not be any hue and cry if MF had painted just nude but he had named them as Indian Devis (in a cruel status of mind I hope) that is the real problem. When we call for the heads of Taslimas,Salmans and Danish Cartoonists I hope we should be in a better position to understand the feelings of our Hindu brotheren too.
BTW do not ever attempt to ponder at the names of the contributors we are not posting under any disguised names as 'An Indian' 'Pure Indian' or the very common 'Anonymous'. If you feel that being an Aftab I shall not speak for my Hindu brotheren you sease to loose your identity as "An Indian". Do not just scale all the Hindus with the same scale of Hindu Vadis as we expect that all the Muslims shall not be treated as Islamists.
Note:- I would like to reiterate here that one simple "Sorry" from MF to those people who were hurt with his paintings would have closed this issue and he would have been staying back in India very happily. After all he was living here peacefully for the major portion of his life did Bajrangis bothered him then? Why should he drop his status from a respected elder to a controversial figure whay can not he say sorry and pacth up things .. provided that he rates his country at higher esteem than his own ego.
Souble Standard of Liberty of Expression
When M.F. Hussain draw something against Hindu Dev Devis it is called Misuse of liberty because it hurts the Hindu centiment.
When Taslima write against Islam, Quran and Prophet (p.b.u.h) it is called LIBERTY OF EXPRESSION although its hurt Muslim centiment.
Voice raise all over India when a foreigner Taslima is protested for her ugly articles but no voice for when a citizen is compel to take shelter in other nation.
CLEAR DOUBLE STANDARD
M.F. Hussain should return to India. Why ???
I read your article Mr. Mayank Chhaya. While you do eulogise Maqbool Fida Hussain's art, his simple life, his contribution to Indian Art, Indian Culture, and gaining the status as a "world reknown" artist / painter of International repute.
Bullet left the gun, and cannot be stopped or taken back - Mr. Mayank Chhaya ???
Those bigots / lunatics / thugs / fanatics - whatever you may call, should have thought of consequences, India (AS A NATION), might be facing, before lodging a barrage of court cases, and giving an Octogenarain - DEATH THREATS.
If they could eliminate ATS Chief Hemant Karkare, and Advocate Shahid Azmi in a DARING FEAT, you can imagine HOW EASY it is to eliminate an old man???
Hindutva / Sangh Parivar acts like a "tube-light". First they DO, what they want to do out of haste (machooism); and then regret. They have always said: ITS our WAY - or HIGHWAY.
Let's see how long this will continue, as even liberal Hindus have realized the reality - but lately.
A good example is the demolition of Babri Masjid. Failing to get ELECTED in 2004 and 2009, they are now SHEDDING "crocodile tears", SHAMELESSLY asking Muslims to donate the land to construct a "Grand Raam Mandir". Another example is "Godhra" riots, and it's consequences on Gujarat and Modi.
So, there is no point in approaching M.F. Hussain to reconsider his decision. And let that be a "blot", and an example of Hindutva / Sangh Parivar's foolish MACHOOISM.
An Indian
Dear all, Mr. M.F. Husain
Dear all,
Mr. M.F. Husain had no option but to accept the Qatar citizenship even though he loves his country India from the bottom of his heart which is clear from his well expressed paintings. No doubt our sympathies are with him for his inability to come to India. But people like me feel that he should not have indulged in the sort of paintings which angered a section of our non-Muslim brethren. There is need to respect the sentiments of the people. Mr. Husain perhaps thought that he was only an artist and nothing else. It was his blunder. He should not have forgotten that he is a born Muslim. If he had practised his religion, he would not have made obscene paintings. Islam does not allow it. There is and should be a limit for everything in a plural society. The clamour on the right of expression does not seem to be valid. One should know how not to create a problem.
Thanking you,
V.M. Khaleelur Rahman,
Please don't make such a big
Please don't make such a big issue out of M.F. Hussain. This is a NON-ISSUE for the Muslim community. This guy has, as far back as we can recall, never been a practising Muslim and has been doing all sorts of un-Islamic activities like painting pictures of humans and animals, and lusting after women. On top of that, he has hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus - something that is strictly forbidden in Islam.
M.F.HUSSAIN
I FULLY AGREE WITH YOU. MAY THE TRIBE OF M.F. HUSSAIN DECREASE!
S.M.PASHA
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