Key events in the Husain protest campaign

Here are some major developments in the campaign so far:

29-30 Mar 06: First-of-its-kind protests outside Christie’s in New York for auctioning Husain's denigrating works

22 Mar 06: Indore (India) court issues warrant against M. F. Husain

14 Mar 06: Hindu Janjagruti Samiti (link to HJS) delegates meet Maharashtra Governor on Husain issue

8 Feb 06: Blatant public deception: Husain’s derogatory painting of Mother India – top grosser in international auction

2 Feb 06: A milestone: Cancellation of Husain’s felicitation with the Roopdhar honour at the hands of the Maharashtra Governor

10 Jan 06: Maharashtra state (India) Deputy Chief Minister claims, “Husain’s paintings not available on the Net”!

2 Jun 06

Hindus stage protests against M. F. Husain’s paintings’ outside Embassy of India, Washington, DC

(Click here to see photos)

2 June, DC: Hindus picketed outside the Indian Embassy in Washington DC today. This public protest is yet another in the ongoing protest campaign by Hindus worldwide against internationally renowned Indian painter, M. F. Husain. In general, there is outrage among the Hindu community worldwide over the denigration Husain has repeatedly committed against their symbols of faith.

This time, the protests were specifically against the inaction of the Indian government towards M. F. Husain, in contrast to its customary sensitivity exercised concerning sentiments of other religious groups, such as Muslims (for example: bans on ‘Satanic Verses’, Danish cartoons) and Christians (for example: bans on ‘The Da Vinci Code’ movie release in 3 Indian states).

In mid-April, a few Hindu families from the greater Washington DC area, led by Mrs. Aruna Sharma and Mrs. Asha Chand, deeply offended by M. F. Husain’s denigrating paintings of Hindu deities, decided to hold protest demonstrations outside the Indian embassy on 2-Jun-06. With support from the Sanatan Sanstha, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, ISKCON and various temples around the Greater Washington DC area, they publicized the demonstration, inviting Hindus to join in.

Despite it being a work day, several protestors, many of them taking the day off (leave) from work, gathered outside the Indian Embassy in Washington DC and started protesting at 11.15am. The numbers swelled to 35-40, as other Hindus in the area, including prominent members of the community, joined in. The protestors held placards, deploring the denigration by M. F. Husain and the Indian government’s lack of sensitivity and action in the MF Husain issue. Passers by were educated about the issue via flyers.

From 12:25 through 1:00 pm, some of the protestors, Mrs. Sonia Chopra (ISKCON), Mrs. Vasanti Vitthal and Mrs. Asha Chand (Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America), Mrs. Bhavna Shinde (Sanatan Sanstha), Dr. Satish Misra and a priest from Durga Temple addressed the gathering, voicing their displeasure at not only M. F. Husain, but also the Indian government. They highlighted the deliberate, callous nature of Husain’s denigration, and questioned the Indian government’s selective sensitivity to sentiments of religious groups other than the Hindu majority of India. Sanatan Sanstha’s seeker, Mrs. Bhavna Shinde, emphasized the importance of Hindu unity and pride for Dharma, and the need for Dharma education among Hindus, to lastingly counter such denigration and reinstate Dharma in society.

At 1:00 pm, the Community Affairs Minister from the Indian Embassy, Mr. A. K. Gupta, came out to understand the concerns of the group. The protestors gave him the petition memorandum, signed by over 600 Hindus in the Greater Washington DC area. They asked him about the Indian government’s stand on and lack of action in this issue. Mr. Gupta assured the protestors that their message will be communicated to the honorable Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, but was often rendered speechless at the protestor’s pointed questions that continued through 1:30 pm.

The protestors continued distributing flyers to the passers by until 2:45pm, to spread awareness about the issue.

The event was covered by a news reporter from TV Asia channel and an investigative journalist from India Globe newspaper of Washington, DC.

This protest demonstration, initiated not by some big Hindu organization, but by a few Hindu families in the greater Washington DC area, was a reminder of how the Husain protest campaign has been instrumental in awakening Hindus around the world.

Highlights
Dialogue with Community Affairs Minister, Mr. A. K. Gupta:
“Mrs. Shinde:  Namaskar, my name is Bhavna Shinde, I am from Sanatan Sanstha; You can find the details about the M. F. Husain protest campaign so far, at www.sanatan.org. We urge you to visit it for further information and to see the overwhelming support this campaign has gathered from Hindus worldwide.

Mr. Gupta: Yes, yes, I will convey all this. Send me an email with all the details.

A protestor: Why has the Indian government failed to take action against M. F. Husain until now, though he has hurt a billion Hindus around the world?

Mr. Gupta: It is the Hindus’ fault. This is not a new issue. Several years ago, when the Hindus had court cases against M. F. Husain, they should have brought closure to this matter then itself, by getting the government to fulfill all these demanded actions against Husain. The Hindus are not united. It is the billion Hindus’ fault.

A protestor: So, the government will take action after the billion Hindus protest?

Mrs. Shinde: How much more of a protest volume does the government need? As compared to the government’s sensitivity to a few Christians’ protests in the case of the Da Vinci Code movie recently, thousands of Hindus in India and around the world are protesting persistently for the past several months.

Mr. Gupta: (After a few moments’ silence) Well, the Hindus need to use legal proceedings. All this, stripping Husain of his honors, etc., cannot happen without legal proceedings.

Mrs. Shinde: Since the commencement of this protest campaign in November 2005, there have been over 1250 police complaints (FIRs), 265 protest demonstrations, several press conferences and court cases against M. F. Husain. Since March 2006 alone, there have been resounding verdicts against M. F. Husain by Indian courts. How many more legal proceedings do we need?

Mr. Gupta: (After a few moments’ silence) These things take time. It just cannot happen overnight.

Mrs. Shinde: How is it that India was the first country in the world to ban the ‘Satanic Verses’, within a month of its publication, and the Indian government has not taken any action against M. F. Husain after over 6 months’ of persistent protests by Hindus? What legal proceedings were followed by the Muslims for the banning of the ‘Satanic Verses’?

Mr. Gupta: (After a few moments’ silence) Well, Hindus need to be united.

Mrs. Shinde: Or is it that the Indian government listens only to the language of violence? The peaceful persistent protests of Hindus obviously seem to be falling on deaf ears.

Mr. Gupta: (Remained silent) …

Mrs. Shinde: Only last month, on 5-May, the Indian Home Ministry itself issued directives to Delhi and Mumbai police to take appropriate action against Husain, following the Indian Law Ministry’s report indicating a high possibility of communal riots in India, over M. F. Husain’s denigrating paintings. Why has the government or the police taken no action yet?

Mr. Gupta: (Remained silent) …

Mrs. Shinde: What is your stand on the Indian high commissioner to UK, Mr. Kamlesh Sharma inaugurating M. F. Husain’s exhibition at the Asia House Gallery, heaping praises on Husain? Shall we take it to be the Indian Government’s stand on the M. F. Husain issue?

Mr. Gupta: (Laughed) What can I say about what he did?

Mrs. Shinde: Could you give us your full name and designation, Sir, as we will be publishing a report on this event in our newspapers?

Mr. Gupta: (Hesitant) What will you do with this information… I am no one, really… Ok, I am the Community Affairs Minister, A. K. Gupta.

Mrs. Shinde: Thank you.”

Reactions

• Several passers by showed keen interest in understanding the issue, as they peered over the posters and listened to the protestors. They took flyers to visit www.sanatan.org to learn further.
• An Indian young lady came up with an American lady. As the American lady listened on, the Indian lady argued that while Husain’s paintings may be denigrating, we are unnecessarily giving him fame, when there are so many good causes out there that can be given publicity to. Despite explaining to her how denigration by a prominent personality sets the wrong trends, how Husain is already famous, etc., she insisted that we should ignore Husain as a “small guy” and that her “religion cannot be shaken by something like this!”
• An American lady attentively heard out the issue, while her friend waited and thanked us for making her aware of an important cause like this.
• Several government officials, who were passing by, interestedly peered over the flyers handed to them.
• Police permission for peaceful protests was taken ahead of time. However, a few days prior to the protests, officers identifying themselves to be from the US Secret Service, called to confirm that the protests would be peaceful. On the day of the protests, the security around the embassy was heightened; the usual 1-2 security guards were enforced with several police officers and US secret service officers, some of them in plain clothes.

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13-15 Apr 06

M.F. Husain's paining highest grosser in prestigious auction in Singapore

M.F. Husain’s paining, 'Mother Teresa' was on exhibition and auction and as usual for big money, in Singapore’s Marriott Hotel from 13 through 15 April.

• Click here for the news in detail.

The public exhibition and sale of Husain’s so-called art is as bad as rewarding him with further fame and fortune for his hurting religious sentiments, an offence for which even courts in India have found sufficient grounds to summon him. Here are some recent court directives against M. F. Husain:

> Hon. Court finds M. F. Husain guilty of hurting Hindus - Financial Express, Mumbai, India, 30 Mar 2006

> Court issues warrant against M. F. Husain – The Times of India, 22 Mar 2006

Here is a milestone judgment from the Delhi High Court in 2004. It is obvious from this judgment that the Hon. Court had found sufficient grounds to hold M. F. Husain responsible for hurting the Hindus’ religious sentiments. However, the case was dismissed purely on technical grounds that the petitioners had not taken the requisite permission from the government.

> Delhi High Court’s verdict in the case against Husain

Hence, Sanatan Sanstha and the Hindu Janjagruti Samiti urged Hindus from around the world to contact the auction organizers, Larasati Muse Investments Pte Ltd, to educate them about worldwide protests against denigration by M. F. Husain, to compel them to cancel the public exhibition and auction of his works. Unfortunately, the protest of Hindus to this auction was lackluster (based on Sanatan Sanstha’s record of how many people protested to Larasati.) The auction went ahead as scheduled. Worse still, Husain’s painting was the highest grosser in the auction (it sold for 280,000 Singapore dollars, that is, about 175,000 US dollars).

This is a reminder on the importance of persistence in this long drawn, but monumental campaign to end denigration in general and that perpetrated by M. F. Husain in particular. Let us take courage from the campaign’s steady progress with wins like the cancellation of Husain’s felicitation by the Bombay Art Gallery, and the increasing court summons and verdicts against Husain. If we have the will, it is possible to protest not only via email and phone calls, but also outside the auction venue and be taken note of by international media, as in the recent protests in New York outside Christie’s. It will help not only to spread awareness about and eventually end the denigration, but also to bring about maximum awakening and unity for Dharma.

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29-30 Mar 06

First-of-a-kind protests outside Christie’s in New York for auctioning Husain's denigrating works

M. F. Husain’s works were on auction for big money, at Sotheby’s and Christie’s in New York on 29 and 30 March, respectively. Some links to the effect:

 CNN-IBN news

In Sotheby’s auction, there were 20 of Husain’s paintings, while at Christie’s, there were atleast 16. Many of them in the $100,000 to $300,000 range!

M. F. Husain’s works appear on these auctions too, in his characteristic perverted “style”, with several of the paintings denigrating Hindu deities and Dharma as an added measure. Look at some of the denigrating paintings at Christie’s:

 Maya with Hanuman

 Two faced Ganesh with ball on trunk

The following was one of the denigrating works of Husain in his offerings at Sotheby’s; it can be viewed with a login account at Sotheby’s.com:

BLUE FIGURE WITH HORSES (depicts a nude, female horse rider with a Sage meditating in the background)

While some of these works benefited private owners, some attended Husain’s coffers. Either way, the public exhibition and sale of Husain’s so-called art is as bad as rewarding him with further fame and fortune for his denigration!

Sotheby’s Press Department mentioned that as per their usual practice, they had invited the press 2-3 weeks ahead, including the Indian press, to the auction notice and that not a single reporter brought up any concerns over the denigration committed by Husain, and the ongoing India-wide and worldwide protests over the issue. Sanatan Sanstha came to know of these auctions only on 26th March from the above CNN-IBN news and sent out an urgent call to protest. Despite the short notice, Hindus the world over protested vehemently with emails and phone calls pouring into the auction houses’ ‘South East Asian and Indian’ Departments on 27 and 28 March.

Then came about a first-of-its-kind, inspiring attempt from Hindus, who protested outside of Christie’s, overcoming all obstacles, as follows:

First public protest on American streets against M. F. Husain - Click to see photos here.

Despite the hundreds of emails and phone calls to the auction houses, Sotheby’s went ahead with the auction on 29-Mar-06. So, Hindus in the New York area, led by Mr. Nirvan Balkissoon, President of Canadian Hindu Art and Cultural Society and promptly supported by seekers Mr. Narendra Parimar, Mrs. Bhavna Shinde and Mrs. Shilpa Kudtarkar from Sanatan Sanstha, and joined by Mr. Narain Kattaria and other VHP members, and Indian American Intellectual Forum (IAIF) members staged protests outside Christie’s auction house on 30-Mar-06.

On 29-Mar-06, when inviting people to protest in New York, Mr. Nirvan Balkissoon wrote from Canada, “I'm going to New York tonight, and if I have to be the only Hindu in protest I will be there in front of Christie’s auction house!“ Mr. Narendra Parimar, Sanatan Sanstha’s seeker in the NJ area, when informed about Mr. Balkissoon’s resolve, promptly wanted to join in and started calling up all interested acquaintances to join into the protests, while Mrs. Shilpa Kudtarkar, a seeker of Sanatan Sanstha from NJ immediately got working on making hoardings and contacting interested acquaintances to urge them to go for the protests, as her squirrel’s share in this first public protest against M. F. Husain in the US.

On 30-Mar-06, Mr. Balkissoon, who had driven all the way from Canada, reached 20 Rockefeller Plaza (outside Christie’s) and started protesting from 8:30 a.m. He was joined by Mr. Narendra Parimar and his brother, Mr. Hasmukh Parimar at 9:15 a.m. The Parimar brothers had gone with several saffron colour hoardings, creating awareness about the protest campaign against the denigration committed by M. F. Husain, and Christie’s and Sotheby’s support to the perpetrating painter. Click to see photos here.

Mr. Richard Boller, Vice President of Security for Christie’s told them to take police permission before protesting. He confirmed that they had received all the protest emails. The protestors asked him why they did not remove the paintings even after receiving the protests. Mr. Narendra Parimar and Mr. Balkissoon went to 54 Street Police Station and the lady police there told them that they do not need permission if the protests are peaceful, without loud speakers, etc. Upon request, she gave her statement in writing. So Mr. Narendra Parimar and Mr. Balkissoon went back and protested until noon. As they stood with the hoardings, passers by were looking at the posters and some were taking the flyers to know more of this denigration. Some passers by, who were convinced of the denigration, also joined in the protest. Click to see photos here.

Despite the short notice and it being a work day, Mr. Narain Kattaria from the VHP joined in around noon, with several VHP members. Hindus from the IAIF too, joined in. Later, several other Hindus joined in after receiving calls from the attending protestors, increasing the protestor group size to about 25.

CNN-IBN news reporters came at 2pm, and interviewed Mr. Balkissoon and Mr. Kattariya, who both condemned M. F. Husain and the auction houses for supporting the painter who is known for hurting religious sentiments of Hindus. The interviews were aired in India. Coverage of this event can be read and watched on video by clicking here.

Highlights

• Police gave immediate permission and that too, in writing. Generally, it is not easy to get it in writing so quickly.

• As the number of protestors increased and the press came in, police officer Mr. Lennon came to check the scene. However, he was very helpful. Mr. Narendra Parimar, who has participated in protests in India, found that the treatment that the police give to the protestors is very rude, whereas in the US he found the police to be very courteous to the protestors. Click to see photos here.

• One protestor bought Christie’s catalogue (costing $40) as proof of the denigrating paintings, to educate the passers by about the denigration.

Reactions

• An American lady, who took a flyer from the protestors said that she believes in Sri Krishna and Husain has not done the right thing, and that she will visit the campaign site to get the details.

• Several of the rich clientele coming for the auction included Indians. The Indian clientele were looking down on the protestors. Some of them even argued with the protestors, saying that they were making a big deal out of nothing. One Indian visitor to the auction, claiming to be a lawyer, kept arguing with the protestors about how they were wrong about M. F. Husain and how could the Meerut court give a verdict against Husain! - Click here to read details

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8 February 2006

Blatant public deception: Husain’s derogatory painting of Mother India – top grosser in international auction

The 6 February 2006 Issue of the India Today weekly carried an advertisement about an auction called ‘Art for Mission Kashmir’. It pointed to a noble cause of raising funds for the victims of earthquake in Kashmir. However, the auction included two derogatory paintings by M. F. Husain, one of them being Bharatmata (Mother India) depicted as a nude woman, with various states and cities inscribed on her body. It became clear that Husain viewed with callous disregard not only Hindu Dharma, but also India, the land where he flourished.

On 6 February itself, Sanatan Sanstha in alliance with Hindu Janjagruti Samiti called for vehement protests and initiated intense, peaceful public agitations for the denigrating paintings to be take off the auction and destroyed.

On 7 February, as a result of the collective, loud protests, Husain issued a public apology and the Bharatmata painting was reported to be withdrawn from the auction in Delhi. News media gave wide coverage to the event.

• Click here for pictures of this event.

• Click here for news reports on this event.

However, on 8 February, in CNN-IBN TV channel’s interview with Dr. Durgesh Samant, Hindu Janjagruti Samiti's national spokesperson, and Ms. Nafisa Ali, Action India Trust’s spokesperson, Ms. Ali gleefully claimed that the derogatory painting of Bharatmata had been sold. Ms. Ali also advised Hindu groups to act for social welfare rather than a non-issue like protesting a painting.
View video of Ms. Ali’s statement.

On 13 February, news reports confirmed that the Bharatmata painting was the highest grosser in the auction, fetching Rs. 80 lakh!

Click here for news on this turn of events.

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2 February 2006

A milestone: Cancellation of Husain’s felicitation with the Roopdhar honour at the hands of the Maharashtra Governor

On 31 January 2006, Sanatan Sanstha came to know about M. F. Husain’s felicitation with the prestigious Roopdhar honour at the hands of the Maharashtra Governor. Click here to view the formal invitation from the Bombay Art Gallery.

As soon as Sanatan Sanstha came to know of this, it initiated vehement protests via phone, email and fax, citing various reasons to the Governor and to Bombay Art Society to cancel the felicitation. Click here to read the call to protest.

Sanatan Sanstha in alliance with Hindu Janjagruti Samiti carried out peaceful protest marches outside the Bombay Art Society and Maharashtra Governor’s offices.

As well, protest emails, phone calls and faxes from around the world poured into the Maharashtra Governor’s and Bombay Art Society’s offices. The fact that the Governor’s office ran out of fax paper bundles by 2nd February points not only to inefficient management, but also to the overwhelming volume of protests!

Due to the collective efforts of Sanatan Sanstha and protestors from all over the world, the felicitation of Husain was cancelled, bringing the campaign to its first milestone.

Click here to read more about the cancellation.

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10 January 2006

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister claims, “Husain’s paintings not available on the Net”!

The Husain protest campaign spread rapidly through the states of Maharashtra and Goa in India, where Sanatan Sanstha has maximum presence. By early January 2006, people had taken the campaign to the streets, making their protests heard via over 100 police complaints and 20 public agitations like protest marches, burning Husain effigies and, city wide strikes, etc.

In all these protests, as proof of denigration, the fact that Husain’s derogatory paintings are openly for sale on various websites was amply publicised. (Click here for details of the art galleries and websites proudly exhibiting Husain’s denigrating paintings even today.) However, the Indian Government’s response to the campaign remained indifferent.

On 10 January 2006, when confronted with the issue of Husain’s derogatory paintings, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Mr. R. R. Patil claimed that the derogatory paintings of Deities are not available on the given websites!

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