M F Husain to lose home over nude "Mother India"

lotus blossom

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Leading painter Maqbool Fida Husain is losing his home and other properties after failing to appear before a court trying him for hurting religious sentiments by painting "Mother India" as a naked woman.

Husain's paintings have often depicted revered Hindu gods and goddesses in the nude, sparking criticism from nationalist parties and activists. A decade ago, radicals even attacked his Mumbai home.

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i'm curious what others think of this. after a bit of scouting on the net i found the objectionable painting. i personally do not see what all the fuss is about...

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batistuta

He was obviously hurting the religious sentiments of the People here. He painted the goddess Saraswati Nude. If he really wanted to extend the same theory of Artistic freedom , he must have painted Mary Magdelene and Mary from Christianity and Prophet Mohammed's wife (fatima was it?)Nude too, which ofcourse he did not . He has gone rather scotfree considering his offense.

I would be interested in the reaction if someone did the same thing to Fatima in the Middle east or to Mary Magdelene in the Bible belt of the US. Bet they would'nt be so generous to this guy.

kmalik

“Censorship reflects society's lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime.”

I believe in this quote and am appalled by the persecution of 90+ year old Husain. Even as someone from a Hindu background, I believe it is wrong to pursue the case against M.F. Husain, who is one of the jewels of India. It is as wrong as the Fatwa against Rushidie was, or conservative Christian response against Mapplethorpe was (who, not quite having the benefit of Battistuta's advice, did photograph Christ in piss).

I hope moderators will allow me to post an extended excerpt from ACLU on censorship.

kmalik

Well, Mapplethorpe did something worse - piss Crhist. He did catch a lot of flak - particularly as it was publicly funded. But no - the response was nothing compared to what India seems to be pursuing. The Iranian Fatwa against Rushidie gives you the other side.

Depends how far back you want to turn the clock. There was a time they'd have burned him on a stake. I, for one, think the growing tolerance is the progress we are making.

Shaktipalooza

A sad reminder of how truly ignorant people can be.

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lotus blossom

i've seen a few mary magdelene nude/semi-nude paintings: here is an article about one of da vinci's paintings. because it is much more realistic of a "nude" woman, i'll not attach the picture here, but it accompanies the article:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4344512.stm

which is why i do not see what the fuss re Husain's painting. it's an abstract painted red and not at all life-like as with the da vinci painting.

lotus blossom

the real ignorance comes with the objectification of women on indian television. what a crazy, mixed up message that sends to the youth of india.

batistuta

I think the Response against Husain is Mild to say the least. It only has to be the HIndu dieties who are Potrayed Nude or On the covers of Toilet seats, these days. . Free speech should not be abused by idiots like Husian by offending the sensibilities of the Hindu Population. Ofcourse, The agitators in India don't have advice of Kmalik who has posted that rather fine excerpt from Aclu.The General Hindu Population does not believe in offending people of different religions beliefs and expect the same courtesy from adherents of other faiths. Just check How many Nude paintings Hindus have painted depicting Mary or Fatima.

If Husain really wanted to Paint somethng Provocative, then he must have chosen someone from his own religious faith. Then we would have had heard the threats from Mullahs from obscure madrasas in India and the Imam of Jama Masjid too. Now that he has painted something offending, he has to face the music.

batistuta

Fair enough LB, but Da vinci is not from the Bible belt, was he?. I can understand where you are coming from, but don't you agree that free speech must have some limitations, especially when it comes to Religious beliefs? Yes, someone can come along and say that if he/she considers Hindu religious beliefs to be stupid or beliefs of any other religion for that matter, agreed, he is free to express his Opinion. But that does not mean that one can depict the dieties of other religions in the nude and still expect not to face music and escape punishment under the garb of free speech.

slumpainter

I find the religious intolerance of visual art itself as an obscenity. For certain, some arists may be pushing the envelope, but those of us that are intelligent will find those particular artists as one-liners, just out for attention, nothing more. The rest, the serious artists may be bringing up issues worthy of attention, even if the issue is intolerance itself, be it Muslim cartoons, Andre Serrano's "Piss Christ" photo (shown below: btw this is NOT Mappelthorpe, who upset people by portraying sexually-charged gay imagery in photographs), or Chris Olifi's "Virgin Mary" (with elephant dung).

The painting I see above is extremely tame compared to what I've seen against Christianity here in the US. Funny, no one here lost their house or was threatened with beheading... Artists in a free society, if they are going against the grain of common moral leanings, should, in a worst case instance, be ignored. For artists, no press is bad press. It is the artist's job to bring content to their work, sometimes it doesn't please everybody. Anybody that gets hot under the collar over another artist's expression should closely examine why they are so upset, then proceed adhering striclty to the tenants of their faith, otherwise they are hypocrits.

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lotus blossom

certainly there are fundamentalists in the bible belt just as there are in every region and religion, who scream when anything that they consider controversial surfaces. the davinci code movie is case in point.

i'm not even sure if we can lump miss magdalene in the mix since some say she was a prostitute, (i personally like to think of her as the wife of jesus )so being depicted nude or semi-nude may not seem so scandulous? and christinianty has the whole adam and eve being in the garden of eden naked neurosis.

what i don't understand is how nudity is made into such a dirty thing when in fact we're all naked underneath our clothes. since when did the human body become such a pornographic entity? imo, what we need to be concerned about is the way that it is abused and objectified.

batistuta

That Brings us to another Dillema Slum painter, the followers of Islam are very much adhering to the tenants of thier religion by issuing fatwa or beheading people who they think are blaspheming towards Islam. Anyone who has read the Quran cannot dispute that claim. The uproar over Danish cartoons can be justified, by saying that they Muslims were adhering to thier religion, based on your above statement. Would you agree to that ?

lotus blossom

i bought these very cool breast bared goddess handles in india. isn't anyone looking for the artist of them...? i also bought a few copies of the kama sutra and some batiks of couples in copulation...oops, better be quiet. the fundamentalists might start burning down the shops that are selling such things...

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batistuta

LB, There was a tremendous uproar in India when Da vinci code was released, Some christians even threatened suicide if the movie was released in India. The movie did release later with several compromises. So lets agree on the basic premise that Religion is an integral Part of life in India.

I also would like to believe that Jesus had a wife as that would put the Ying and the Yang , on equal footing, when it comes to christianity. So, You say ,if she is the wife or if she is a Prostitute then it Mary appearing semi-nude would not be so scandalous Rt ? In India there will be considerable uproar over such a Potrayal with all the name calling againt hindus as anti-minorites and hurting the religions sentiments of christians if such a thing were to happen and it turned out that Hindus were behind such a Potrayal. Don't the hindus also deserve the same courtesy from people from other faiths. Nude paintings and Toilet seats are not the way to go ahead to foster religious Harmony.

I am totally against the crass objectification of Woman in Indian Television.. The same moral preaching public who are offended with a kiss do not object the gyrations in songs in Hindi movies which does not leave anything to the imagination of the viewer.We are not talking about any other Human body are we? We are talking about a diety who is revered as the goddess of learning in the Hindu pantheon of gods. Mythic gods, Maybe, But still revered nonetheless .


If anyone sold you that Bare breasted women's handles as some image of a goddess, then they are Lying. Have you ever encountered a diety inside a temple that is bare-breasted, I am talking about the sactum-sanctrum of the temple. India was not as conservative now as it was before. I dont have any Problems with Nudity .But there is a limit to it when it comes to offending some one's religions sentiments.

PeakXV

Alot more attention grabbing than his normal juxtapositioning of Umbrellas etc. ..... probably produced more as a religious troll than with true artistic sincerity.

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