Karnataka - Bangalore   

Shock over Baroda incident

Staff Reporter

Artists to stage protest in city today

BANGALORE: The artist community in Bangalore is shocked at the developments in Baroda, where the works of Chandra Mohan, a fine arts student of Maharaja Sayajirao University, were vandalised by activists of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and the Dean of the Fine Arts Department Shivaji Panikkar suspended for standing by the student. They will stage a protest here on Monday. Thirty-two artists, including S.G. Vasudev, Yusuf Arakkal, M. Shantamani, Babu Eshwar Prasad, Ravi Kumar Kashi and Sunil Mamadapur, have written to the Governor of Gujarat condemning the incident. Artists from all over the country are organising similar protests on Monday.

Speaking to The Hindu, several Bangalore-based artists were unequivocal in their condemnation of the incident.

Terming the incident "unbelievable", Mr Vasudev wondered how a vice-chancellor could allow such elements into the premises and arrest a student in the name of moral policing. "After all Chandra Mohan was displaying his art work as part of the examination. It is disturbing that the fundamentalists have taken the law into their own hands, obstructing creativity and freedom of expression. This act should be condemned," he said.

"This is a dangerous development. We do not know whether to call it ignorance or narrow-mindedness," Mr. Ravi Kumar Kashi said.

"Our heritage has several ancient images that show eroticism as part of Hindu and Buddhist sculptures, iconography and paintings. The idea of male/female union as part of spiritual uplift is part of our ethos. We cannot deny that fact. Will they destroy our entire heritage?" he asked.

Expressing anguish and anger over the incident, Mr. Yusuf Arakkal urged the Sangh Parivar not to politicise the issue. Asserting that the activists should not have taken the law into their hands, Mr. Arakkal said: "As an artist I respect the sentiments and philosophy of all religions. Though I have not seen the student's works, I understand that the images are not alien to the Hindu iconography. Moreover, the works were not exhibited in a public gallery. They were only put up for evaluation. Such incidents will only lead to the division of the country," he said.

While Mr. Babu Eshwar Prasad said such an act amounted to curtailing the freedom of artists' expressions, Mr. Balan Nambiar termed it as a "terrible and unfortunate" incident. "Today, it has happened to a student artist. Tomorrow it could happen to anyone of us. Does this mean we have to take permission before creating a work of art?" Mr. Balan asked.

Mr. Ravi Kashi and Mr. Babu Eshwar Prasad, who have studied at the Maharaja Sayajirao University, expressed displeasure over the university vice-chancellor suspending the dean of Fine Arts Department.

Art, Resources & Centre, a Bangalore-based research organisation, has initiated an e-mail campaign against the incident.

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