Promote accord not discord

Pragmatic men and women promote accord. Morons promote discord. M F Hussain is mentally sick as he painted Hindu goddesses in the nude. One wonders why he did not paint the leading ladies of the Islamic realm in the nude. Was he cured of his mental sickness when painting his own daughter? In any case I do not treat that fellow as an artist at all. He is just publicity hungry. He does some stupid thing or the other to be in the news. Some pseudo-secular writers or painters also derive mileage out of the controversy created by that mad man called M F Hussain. It is time he was locked up in a lunatic asylum. Thank God, he is not an Indian citizen now.

The judgement rejecting a petition praying for a direction to the Government of India to take steps to withdraw 900 odd cases against that artist and bring him back to India is legally sound and socially welcome. There are complaints by citizens of India against that fellow who masquerades as an artist for hurting the feelings of a vast majority of Indian citizens by painting Hindu goddesses in the nude and the apex court indeed has no jurisdiction to close the cases that have to take their own course as per law of the land. These are complaints filed by citizens of India whose religious sentiments have been hurt by Hussain and courts of law will adduce evidence to decide them on merit. In any case, the Hon’ble Supreme Court has done a favour to the accused-artist by transferring such complaints from different parts of India to New Delhi. If the so-called artist has courage, let him present himself before the concerned court of law and stand trial. But the coward chose to run away from the country rather than face his nemesis.

Let us present bouquets to the Supreme Court bench presided by the Chief Justice for not entertaining the said petition presented by an advocate and an ex-MP. In any case the petitioner had no locus standi in the present case.

Bury the case

It is time to call it a day and bury mad Hussain's case for good. Nevertheless, he should not be permitted to go scot free if he lands in India. The law of the land will indeed punish that mad cap for what he did and also for what he did not do and thus he pronounced his morbid communalism. The pseudo-secularists who defend Hussain's morbid communalism must hang their heads in shame for siding with a fugitive. In the eye of law, M F Hussain is a fugitive from law of the land. If he dies in a foreign land, his body should not be allowed to be buried in India.

Art for art's sake

Painting Hindu goddesses in the nude and not meting out the same artistic treatment to venerable women of the realm of Islam can never be called an act or omission of artistic freedom. The age-old saying that art is for art's sake does not apply in the present case. Here the intention of the old coward is vitiated by his morbid thought and action.

It would be a good idea to compare and contrast some paintings of the Hindu goddesses done by Hussain and those of the Islamic icons and loved ones of the painter himself. The Hindu goddesses are invariably in the nude whereas the mother, daughter and a Muslim woman, painted by him, are well clothed. In some of the former paintings of goddess Durga, sexual nuances are prominently portrayed whereas in the Islamic ones it is purity precluding sexual nuances. The morbid mind of Hussain is clearly anti-Hindu. Those who have hauled him up in legal cases have done a wise thing. Those who defend him by going out of the way ‘know not what they do’. Ignoramus personified.

Hark ye pseudo-seculaists

A leading daily of the national capital carried a signed lead article defending Hussain and saying how could he paint Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) since it is prohibited in Islam. Indeed, Hussain professes to be a devout follower of Islam. The writer of the lead article conveniently forgot that there were other personalities, both male and female, from the Islamic world whose paintings exist and they could have been disrobed by the artist through his brush to satisfy his suppressed sexual desire. Both the newspaper and the said writer profess secularism of sorts but practise rank communalism favouring Muslims. If they do not do so, they fear that their establishment would be burnt down by the ignorant masses who they have been favouring to sell more and more copies in the Islamic areas across the borders. Never mind the intellectual dishonesty as long as the newspaper sells and the paraphernalia is safe from arson. Disgraceful show indeed!

Let the said leading daily do some research and contrast the paintings done by Hussain of the Hindu goddesses in the nude, not sparing even Bharat Mata, and the Muslim women fully clothed. The truth should be published by the said paper and explained in a signed article by my pseudo-secularist journalist friend. I shall be delighted to shake hands with the research scholars who reveal the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. It would be journalistic honesty if the said paper brings out the result of the research for the information of the common man. Let the aam aadami be in focus for a change and let him or her be informed of facts as they are, without taking recourse to the Right to Information Act. Let it be clearly understood that jugglery of words won’t do and hocus-pocus has no place where the artistic honesty and journalistic ethics have been called in question by an observant citizen of India who holds no brief for any political party or a fundamentalist group. A firm Lakshman Rekha has been drawn to protect the truth and expose falsehood without fear or favour. The Constitution of India will provide the search engine and the dharma will provide power for our pursuit of the truth.

It is hoped that the people at large will have their say in matters of such religious and social importance. These issues which hurt the sentiments of men and women from all walks of life, must be referred to the sovereign people of India and not be decided in the air-conditioned drawing rooms of a few cigar smoking politicians or rabble rousers. Let us say three cheers to democracy and leave the matter in people's court, if need be.