QOTD: Is politics destroying art?

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New Delhi: One of India’s most respected and well-known artists and a legend in his own lifetime M F Husain has been living away form India since March. There are a slew of court cases against him in four states, he has faced death threats and has received calls about his eyes being gouged out and his hands being cut off - all in response to his celebrated paintings of Hindu Gods and Goddesses in the nude.

However, a group of over hundred artists, intellectuals, musicians and filmmakers have written to the President of India saying that since Husain’s achievements are at par with Satyajit Ray and M S Subbalakshmi, he should be awarded the Bharat Ratna.

Husain himself has denied that he is in any kind of exile and says that those who are trying to create problems for him know nothing of either art or religion.

The question that was discussed on CNN-IBN's Face The Nation was: By sending away M F Husain from India, are politicians destroying artistic freedom?

On tha panel of experts were artist Krishna Khanna, former MP and author, Prafull Goradia and Counsel for M F Husain, Akhil Sibal.

An artist painting a naked Saraswati or a naked Bharat Mata is simply expressing his artistic freedom, so why should he be construed as anti-Hindu?

Former MP Praful Goradia who had once stated earlier that Hussain should be hanged rather than being awarded the Bharat Ratna said, “No. I have not said anything just yet about religions and nations. My serious objections to Mr Husain is that he has outraged the entire womanhood of the world by portraying an elephant and a woman copulating, and a horse and a woman copulating. He has also portrayed a lion and Goddess Durga and also a bull and Parvati. However, the Goddesses issue is a separate one. My basic point is that he has insulted and outraged half the world and that is the entire womanhood. He hasn’t painted a single man copulating with a single animal.”

When Salvador Dali did his paintings and Michael Angelo created David, they too must expressed the artistic vision.

“Nudity is something that I have not even remarked on. I am merely saying that it is highly outrageous,” said Goradia.

Are Husain’s paintings pornographic?

“They are not even pornographic, they are disgustingly outrageous to women,” Goradia said.

However, artist Krishna Khanna opposed the idea of Husain being hanged instead of being given the Bharat Ratna by saying, “I think that it is very excessive. I have known Husain since the early 50s. I have seen a lot of his work and in any of his earlier works I have not seen any vestige of any woman being outraged or them copulating with an animal. It is a question of the way he positions things the way he is positioned the Goddess and the lion for instance. He did that during Indira Gandhi’s time. The figure of the Goddess is mingled with the lion and it is not a copulative act. I think it is a prejudiced way of looking at it to say that they are copulative because they are not.”