Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Attack on artist

This refers to the editorial "Hurt sentiments and moral policing" (May 16). The sangh parivar's charge that the paintings of Chandramohan, student of Fine Arts at M.S. University in Vadodara, hurt religious sentiments and promote enmity is spurious and vexatious. Viewed in the light of the controversy surrounding M.F. Husain's works and Shilpa Shetty and Richard Gere's kissing on stage, the attack on Mr. Chandramohan, his arrest, and the suspension of the faculty dean reinforce a dangerous trend. What moral authority do the fanatics who spread fundamentalism have to cry foul?

V. K. Sathyavan Nair,
Kottayam

Let the moral police look around them to see what is happening in the country. They should be disturbed at the caste and religious barriers that are doing enormous disservice to Indian culture and Hinduism. If art has no place in society, what will become of the centuries-old works of excellence we see in almost all Indian temples? Will the so-called custodians of culture vandalise the temples of Khajuraho and Konark?

K. Anilkumar,
Tirupur

It is an artist's prerogative to create what he or she wants. If people have a problem with the creation, they should ignore it. They have no right to behave in such an immature manner. Can a person go around wielding the stick against everyone who does not think like him?

Mithun John,
Chennai

With private political armies known euphemistically as `cadres' roaming the streets of India imposing the will of their political bosses, democracy is under threat. Reminiscent of the fascist brown shirts and black shirts, these cadres dictate what India is. John Locke's words "your freedom ends where my nose begins" and the liberal doctrine "live and let live" form the basis of democracy. But unfortunately, the freedom to worship, report news, publish a book, make a movie, and even create a piece of art is under constant threat.

S. Suchindranath Aiyer,
Bangalore

The saffron brigade's roots are so deep that no sphere seems immune to its high-handedness. It stifles with impunity the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.

Sibani Sankar Samantaray,
Bhubaneswar

Let us, by all means, condemn the attack on Mr. Chandramohan, the artist. But in true secular spirit, let us also condemn all attempts to curb the freedom of expression — the suspension of the screening of The Da Vinci Code by some States, the coercion that led to M.F. Husain withdrawing his film Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities from the theatres, and the state-sponsored ban on the Satanic Verses.

B. Vinayak,
Secunderabad

While Mr. Chandramohan's arrest was an extreme reaction and his release on bail is welcome, the events leading to the attack merit attention. He has been accused of hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus and Christians. In 2006, when there were protests by Muslims following the distasteful Danish newspaper cartoon on Prophet Mohammed, the reaction in India was remarkably one of understanding. In fact all Indian newspapers strongly condemned the publication. It looks like crude depictions of Hindu and Christian gods merit no condemnation.

J.S. Acharya,
Hyderabad

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