The Hindu : National : “We have full respect for M.F. Husain”

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 17, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

National

National

“We have full respect for M.F. Husain”

Atul Aneja

DUBAI: The Bhoruka Charitable Trust, which cancelled a function on Saturday to honour renowned artist M.F. Husain here, has said that it continues to hold the painter in high esteem.

“We have full respect for Mr. Husain and we have no intention of hurting his feelings,” Surendra Pal Joshi, a Jaipur-based painter and one of the organisers of the event, told The Hindu.

Mr. Joshi declined to comment when asked whether the decision to scrap the function would encourage those seeking to undermine the freedom of artistic expression in India.

The function was cancelled in the wake of a campaign by the Hindu Janjagruti Samiti (HJS) against the staging of the event. The HJS website on Saturday posted a fax message received from Amitava Banerjee, Executive Director of the Bhoruka Trust. The fax informed the organisation that the function was cancelled.

The HJS said it had “launched an intensive campaign along with website campaign against the presenting of award to Mr. Husain.” Ahead of the function, the organisers described Mr. Husain as “our most senior living artist” on whom a life-time achievement award was being bestowed.

Under attack

Described as the “Picasso of India” by Forbes magazine, Mr. Husain has been unsparingly attacked by several religious organisations, including the HJS and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

In an effort to spread an international campaign against the painter, the HJS and the Indian American Intellectual Forum have decided to jointly target him in the United States. The two have threatened to hold a demonstration to stop the Christie’s Art Gallery from auctioning many of his paintings on March 20.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National