BBC News, Delhi
Getty ImagesA judge in the American capital, Delhi, has ordered the arrest of two “offensive” drawings by MF Husain, one of India’s most famous designers.
The court on Monday granted authorization for the police to capture the paintings after a complaint was filed alleging that the drawings, displayed at an art gallery and featuring two Hindu deities, “hurt spiritual attitudes”.
Husain, who died in 2011 older 95, typically faced backlash for the representations of nude Hindu angels in his paintings.
The Delhi Art Gallery ( DAG ) which held the exhibition said in a statement that it is” not a party to the legal proceedings and is seeking legal advice”.
The canvases were part of an exhibition called Husain: The Timeless Modernist, showcasing more than 100 plays at DAG from 26 October to 14 December.
The plaintiff, Amita Sachdeva, a solicitor, said on X that on 4 December, she photographed the “offensive drawings” displayed at the DAG and, after researching previous issues against the late musician, filed a police issue five days later.
On 10 December, Ms Sachdeva reported that she visited the museum with the investigating agent, only to discover that the canvases had been removed. She claimed that the museum officials asserted they had previously exhibited the drawings.
The BBC has contacted DAG for remark.
The drawings that Ms Sachdeva shared electronically depicted Hindu gods Ganesha and Hanuman alongside skinny female characters. She even alleged that the Delhi police had failed to file a report.
She eventually petitioned the court to protect the CCTV footage from the exhibition during the time when the paintings were apparently on show, according to press reports.
On Monday, a prosecutor at Delhi’s Patiala House Courts said that the officers had accessed the images and submitted their statement. According to the investigation, the show was held in a personal space and was intended only to display the artist’s unique work, the judge added.
bhu mittalThe art museum said in a speech that they are “reviewing the position” and” trying to follow advancements”.
Maqbool Fida Husain was one of India’s biggest paintings and was called” Picasso of India” but his painting often stirred controversy in the country. His plays have sold for millions of dollars.
His career was marked by discussion when he was accused of profanity and denounced by conservative Hindus for a decoration of a skinny queen.
In 2006, Husain formally apologised for his decoration, Mother India. It showed a skinny girl kneeling on the ground creating the design of the American image. He left the country the same year and lived in a self-imposed captivity in London until his death.
In 2008, India’s Supreme Court refused to launch criminal proceedings against Husain, saying that his paintings were not obscene and nudity was common in Indian iconography and history.
The judge had finally dismissed an appeal against a higher court ruling that quashed legal proceedings against Husain in the towns of Bhopal, Indore, and Rajkot, condemning the fall of “new prudishness” in India.
The court also rejected calls for Husain, then in exile, to be summoned and asked to explain his paintings, which were accused of outraging religious sentiments and disturbing national integrity.
” There are so many such subjects, photographs and publications. Will you file cases against all of them? What about temple structures? Husain’s work is art. If you don’t want to see it, don’t see it. There are so many such art forms in temple structures,” the top court said.
Many believe there is a rising tide of illiberalism against artistic expression in India.
In October the Bombay High Court reprimanded the customs department for seizing artworks by renowned artists FN Souza and Akbar Padamsee on the grounds that they were “obscene material.”
The court ruled that not every nude or sexually explicit painting qualifies as obscene and ordered the release of seven seized artworks.
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