Saffron Brigade as Art Critics
I haven’t seen too much discussion about this on the blogs, I guess people get tired of getting hate mail from the SS (Saffron Sympathizers). I am assuming most people have heard of the arrest of MS University Art student, Chandra Mohan who seems to have simultaneously offended the self-appointed protectors of Hindu and Christian sentiments, with his MFA thesis paintings:
A group of VHP activists led by Niraj Jain, an advocate and a local VHP leader, barged into the university campus at around 3.30 pm on Wednesday, when the internal evaluation of the student works was being held. They allegedly manhandled Mohan and hurled abuses at the faculty members and other students.
They had tipped off the local police who were soon at the spot and took Mohan into custody, as he was ‘a threat to the secular atmosphere of Baroda’.
Yes, you heard right, the saffron shirts barge into a university examination, not open to the public, rough up people, and the victim gets arrested.
The dean, Shivji Panniker would like to file a complaint against the attack, instead he has been suspended by the vice chancellor of the university who apparently apologized to the attacker. The students have responded by arranging an exhibition of religious art, and the faculty has released a press release in support of Chandra Mohan and the dean.
The latest news is that Chandra Mohan has been denied bail, and the Rev Immanuel Kant (does the man know he shares his name with an Enlightenment philosopher?) is planning a rally to protest Chandra Mohan’s depiction of Jesus.
I haven’t found any images of the offending paintings, but MS University has one of the top Art departments in the country, and from what I have seen of the work of their students and faculty, its a well deserved reputation. So its hard for me to believe that the student’s work is simply crude and aimed at being offensive. 
Still, I would be willing to accommodate Jain’s assessment that these paintings are offensive if I could actually believe that the man is a competent art critic. But given similar brouhahas in the past, I am not so sure. Remember the whole anti-Hussein protest last year? Here is an example of one of the paintings that was being protested. The caption on the web page says: Goddess Durga in the nude having sexual intercourse with a tiger. I looked at this picture for a long time and just couldn’t see it as such, a rather tired reference to Cubism, but intercourse? Nope. I guess you need to have a dirty mind to see it. (See the whole series and what is supposedly objectionable about them here)
Update: The Fine Arts faculty at MS University has a blog with updates and links.
2nd Update: Here is a video of the incident (via Chapati Mystery)
May 13th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
[...] A very thorough post from India Uncut on a terrible instance of abuse and censorship in Baroda, that landed an artist in jail for painting religious material. In response, the “artist community obviously rises up, and organises an exhibition documenting erotica in Indian and Western art.” [See also: Art Concerns‘ Ranjit Hoskote, Gulammohammed Sheikh, Johny ML, Abhijeet Tamhane and Shashwati’s Blog] [...]
May 15th, 2007 at 11:43 pm
THE DEATH THROES OF MSU?
Once a reputed centre of tertiary education with countless number of alumni from all faculties strewn across the world, is now a pariah. It is on the verge of being disowned not only by the UGC, but shunned by past students and teachers who are shocked and shamed at the latest debacle unfolding globally, unfortunately for university administrators, across the internet. It is bad enough to witness the academic demise of one’s alma mater across the last two decades, but watching political fanaticism mocking the very tenets of democracy, of which all Indians are supposedly proud of, is positively blood curdling.
The university is an institution, which needs to be properly administered and protected by those empowered to do so, including the Vice Chancellor, Syndicate/Senate Members, etc. Instead we are witnessing a debacle where the highest authority turns on his institute, sanctioning the violation of free expression and education on the flimsy excuse of immorality, that too in a land steeped and proud of its heritage such as Khajurao, Kama Sutra and the likes. Vibrant Gujarat indeed!!! The Mahatma and Sardar Patel would most certainly cringe wherever they in their heavenly abodes. The question begs to be asked whether the institute should shelter and tolerate these people. Therein lies the root of evil that has been plaguing MSU over the last few decades. Instead of a focus on academic excellence, mediocrity in all spheres has ruled the roost. Academic excellence dipped, national grants disappeared, dependence on the state government increased, thus allowing any ruling party to exert extraordinary influence on the university’s governance, including the appointment of vice chancellors of their choice, irrespective of their credentials and standing, and most importantly their ability to enhance the organisation’s stature. We have a situation where syndicate/senate members are either political stooges or have been muzzled to rubber-stamp critical decisions that could undermine the university’s credibility and standing. There used to be a time when academic luminaries were syndicate/senate members, but not any more, as political inclination is a preferable prerequisite.
More disturbing is the rise in religious political fanaticism in what should be the tranquil surroundings of a flourishing university. Ishwar, Allah, Ram, does it really matter where education is concerned. One suspects that there is more to just immorality than meets the eye about the current fracas.
Students, teachers, deans of faculties, syndicate/senate members, the PVC and VC are all party for the above debacle which represents some of the murkiest depths an educational organization can dip to. MSU is now a laughing stock. One used to take pride in being a MSU degree holder. Not any more, thanks to a crescendo of mediocrity, breeding acceptance of all that is anathema to true democracy, freedom of expression and education. The manner in which this incident has unfolded reminds us of the Taleban in Afghanistan. Are we fostering and encouraging our own “talebans’ who run amuck protecting the society’s ‘morals’, while flagrantly thumbing their noses at fundamental societal rights and law? If this is so, are we encouraging a ‘superior race’ (shades of Nazism) who are irreproachable and not answerable to common law and societal norms.
Citizens of Baroda, students and teachers of MSU, show some spine and courage and stand up for all that is fair, truthful, legal and most importantly, what is necessary to reverse this downward vortex of destruction the organization is speeding through. March through the streets, express your feelings to the VC, syndicate/senate members, harangue the State Education Minister and Chief Minister, clog the internet and daily press. Remember, state elections are approaching and in 1974, MSU students were at the forefront of overthrowing the then state government. We are a proud state and have been prosperous too, but this needs to be bolstered by a robust educational system. While MSU is in the news, other universities in Gujarat will certainly have their own horror stories to tell. Mediocrity is like a delicate exotic fruit, one does pay dearly for scarcity. Why should Gujarat put up with mediocrity, as it breeds all sorts of evils.
May 24th, 2007 at 2:04 am
It is true that India is becoming a nation of knee-jerk reactions and the canny and unscrupulous are taking advantage of our media’s immaturity and lack of discrimination to garner publicity for themselves by doing all kinds of wierd things – the case against Richard Gere’s “kiss”, punishing couples holding hands and so on would not exist if the self-appointed guardians of our morality knew that the press will not cover their antics.
We also have the tendency of becoming distraught by someone who throws light on aspects of our culture which we want to keep hidden – the censureship of Water is one such example. We, thus, do not improve in these areas.
No one can defend any of this.
In all the rhetoric, we fall into the danger of painting all artistic freedom with the same brush. We feel that Freedom to Express Oneself should be immune to any censorship in a free country. However, let us not confuse the controversy about banning a poem-like Water with cases against Hussain’s poster-like paintings (I am no art critic but I viewed Hussain’s paintings side by side with paintings by Monet and Lautrec and I cannot use any other adjective for his paintings) or Chandramohan’s pictures.
Do you not think it rather strange that almost none of the TV channels have dared show Chandramohan’s pictures while defending these? And one which did show these, blanked out crucial portions.
Let us take Chandramohan’s pictures, first. The descriptions I have of these paintings from surfing the internet are as follows (I do not vouch for their authenticity, but I am assuming that these portrayals are correct as they are from four different sites)
A large cross depicting Christ with his penis hanging out, semen dripping from it into a commode.
A nude woman with a baby attempting to push its way out of her vagina. The caption below the painting reads: “Durga Mata”.
Then MFH’s paintings:
A naked Sita lying astride the long tail of Hanuman
Hanuman in a sexual pose
Hanuman standing opposite Sita who is sitting on the thigh of a naked Ravana,
A nude portrait of Goddess Saraswati,
A Bull copulating with a woman shown as Parvati.
Are you surprised that there is negative reaction from both the Christians and the Hindus? What would Muslims do if Mr. Hussain were to paint Prophet Mohammad in a similar pose? Or, heaven forbid, Sayyida Ayesha? Why does he not do so and find out for himself if Hindus are the only ones opposing freedom of expression?
Of course, by no stretch of imagination do I support the way the VHP has gone about its “hooliganism”. There are more legal remedies available and, in a civil society, we should use these. However, because of a failure of leadership, we are increasingly becoming a mobocracy. Just imagine what the reaction would have been in Congress governed states had Sonia Gandhi been shown naked in a similar pose birthing Congress candidates or in U.P. if someone made a painting of a naked Mayawati, birthing the BSP Candidates. The imagery boggles the mind, but you must realise that Durga and Sita are iconic images and many respect them more than they do their own mothers.
The self-appointed moral police which objects to petty things is at one extreme. The intellectuals, pseudo-intellectuals and artists who automatically rise in defense of all pictures completely regardless of their content, in the name of Artistic Freedom is at the other extreme. Both are equally guilty of thoughtlessly trivializing our society and making a mockery of our sensibilities.
Kumar Bhairav
August 18th, 2007 at 2:04 am
[...] See Dilip D’Souza’s post on the latest attack on Taslima Nasrin. As usual “religious sentiments have been hurt” is being handed out as so much stale mithai, and as Dilip points out, it has an eery resemblance to recent events in Baroda. This shameful episode is rightly being condemned widely, however, with certain qualifiers: “The government should immediately cancel her visa and make her go out of the country,” he said adding, “she should realise that this is not Bangladesh or Pakistan, but India where the sentiments of all communities are respected”.(Delhi Minorities Commission Chairperson Kamal Farooqui) [...]