seedhi Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 Matter of fact I was surprised. I hope we are talking of the same Pankaj Mishra here' date=' the writer[/quote']Yes the writer Pankaj Mishra http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pankaj_Mishra . I still remember reading that article of his as a teenager insinuating that the Indian army carried out the massacre and it making my blood boil. I guess exposing this man to you is my good deed of the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Outsider Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 Did he withdraw his paintings? No. Not even for a moment. How can you withdraw paintings? He did not even own them, they had been painted 25 years before this entire thing came up. Let me apprise you of the facts - the Delhi High Court has bunched up all the cases in various parts of India. He can come to India and argue his case directly in front of the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court. Not all and anyhow what's to stop the loony brigade from filing more lawsuits when he returns. There were 1000+ against him at one point of time, I just confirmed on google. Firstly I dont condone violence, but lets have some perspective. In India there are people who face much greater threats, they dont run away abroad. There is an open threat from the people who did the 26/11 attacks to foreigners in India but still we assure the sportspersons of impenetrable security. The govt can *easily* protect MF Hussain from any harm. He simply doesnt want to return. Yes, he does not want to return I agree with that. And if you were a 90+ year old in the last few years of your life, you wouldn't want to return either to a place where you are going to be subjected to death threats, violence, and frivolous lawsuits. Since MF Hussains paintings have not been banned in India, I definitely disagree with the ban on Satanic Verses. Secondly, Rushdie lived under a death threat from a Head of State for several years - which I certainly condemn. MF Hussain has not faced any such difficulty. I can certainly point to the inconsistency in the positions of the govt on these two issues. This is not something you can take a retrospective stance on. Hussain's incident happened 10 years after Rushdie. Were you in unison with the loony Muslims and the government who banned his book for those 10 years? Hussain also has death threats. Did you even look at the paintings? Durga having sex with a tiger. Laskshmi sitting nude on top of Ganesha. Sita nude on the thigh of a nude Ravan. A dressed Muslim with a naked Brahmin. The connotations of the paintings are clear to anyone who has a working brain - simply to degrade and debauch Hindu icons. It's art and can be interpreted in many different ways. I am no expert on the topic and neither are you, so we can let that part slide. What I completely champion is freedom for an artist to express himself. Btw I think we are just repeating stuff over and over. I will just end with restating that I am glad that this despicable human being is out of India and I hope he does not return, a view that I am happy to observe is shared by a majority of those who posted in this thread. True. I am not going to make you change your mind or vice versa, but the majority is not always right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seedhi Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 BTW speaking of Pankaj Mishra this is the same mahashay that speaks approvingly of Iqbal ' date=' past Islamic rule , Muslims sense of disposession after the Mughal rule got terminated and such topics. Anybody with a iota of intellectual honesty will know what Mishrajis agendas are.[/quote']Go through this article of his http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/dec/11/kissingers-fantasy-obamas-realism . One gets the feeling it is ghost written by Zaid Hamid. I will just quote an astounding statement from it:In 1971, India facilitated the secession of Pakistan's easternmost province (now Bangladesh), provoking Pakistan's humiliated army and intelligence officials to pursue a policy of creating "strategic depth" against India by seeking Pashtun clients inside Afghanistan.Yes yes its all India's fault. No mention of the genocide going on in 1971 or the 10 million refugees. A pathetic lowlife scum masquerading as an intellectual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Outsider Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 As far as I remember, he did apologize if he hurt someone's sentiments and removed all objectionable paintings which he owned from Public galleries. Not that he needed to do any of this, IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desi Cartman Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 As far as I remember' date=' he did apologize if he hurt someone's sentiments and removed all objectionable paintings which he owned from Public galleries. Not that he needed to do any of this, IMO.[/quote'] then why are people hurt :hmmmm: & whining :whine: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seedhi Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 Not all and anyhow what's to stop the loony brigade from filing more lawsuits when he returns. There were 1000+ against him at one point of time, I just confirmed on google. Only half a dozen cases remain which will also be bunched up by the High Court. Yes, he does not want to return I agree with that. And if you were a 90+ year old in the last few years of your life, you wouldn't want to return either to a place where you are going to be subjected to death threats, violence, and frivolous lawsuits.In the end it is his choice to not return. I dont understand what more can the govt do in his case apart from assuring him of security. This is not something you can take a retrospective stance on. Hussain's incident happened 10 years after Rushdie. Were you in unison with the loony Muslims and the government who banned his book for those 10 years? Hussain also has death threats.To be quite frank, my interest in such matters started only with MF Hussain's controversy, before that I was too young to be concerned. It was at this point (I think the movie Fire also came out around the same time) that I perceived the double standard considering what had happened to Rushdie and Nasreen.True. I am not going to make you change your mind or vice versa, but the majority is not always right.It is right more often than not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seedhi Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 As far as I remember' date=' he did apologize if he hurt someone's sentiments and removed all objectionable paintings which he owned from Public galleries. Not that he needed to do any of this, IMO.[/quote']He removed the Bharat Mata painting from the exhibition but apparently it re-appeared on his official website. If only he had stayed back in India and cleared himself of all the charges. But by absconding he made his paintings an automatic target. For example in 2007 the Maharashtra Governor refused to inaugurate a exhibition which contained Hussain's paintings, because he was a declared absconder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zap_Brannigan Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 This is India. We care more about the honor of a fictionalized representation of the nation than the lives of people when Shiv sena directly threatens them. Freedom of speech should be protected. For everyone. As much as i hate his hypocrisy, that he would never paint Mohamed naked, he should be allowed to do paint "Bharat mata" or hindu deities nude if he wants to. Its just paint on a piece of paper. How is that affecting anyone life? Or do people fear that they will get aroused by these paintings and then goddess laxmi will pour down on them? Doesnt hinduism teach forgiveness ? Isnt god supposed to be free of ego or hatred against a stupid painting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Outsider Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 then why are people hurt :hmmmm: & whining :whine: Because India has been hijacked by religions of all hues and colors over the last 30 years specially. People are not comfortable with their identities and culture and feel threatened at the slightest provocation to what they hold sacrosanct. Tolerance has gone down the drain and the assimilative history of our country has been eroded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Outsider Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 there is only one that sticks out like a sore thumb ... otherwise we are still the same assimilative (read bend over) types. Oh yeah....the sore thumb kaat do aur pain free raho theory....wonder how I could forget about that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 Yes the writer Pankaj Mishra http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pankaj_Mishra . I still remember reading that article of his as a teenager insinuating that the Indian army carried out the massacre and it making my blood boil. I guess exposing this man to you is my good deed of the day. Well yeah I did not know about that so thanks much. Although I am not sure why this would be a good deed of sorts?(although I do understand BB jumping in haste, something I have gotten used to). It is not exactly that I am a Mishra fan, heck I have not read any of his books(atleast I dont remember). I was just surprised why you would drag him in this discussion So yeah thanks for sharing that info and lets leave it at that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViruRulez Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 my view is that he can paint whatever he wants.we are not the taliban. I dont agree to it .. we may not be the Taliban but there are rules in every sane society which should be followed .. I dont give a damn if he is the world's greatest artist but what he did is absolutely wrong .. this is where many people make the mistake of not understanding freedom .. freedom does not mean absolute freedom but there are limitations .. freedom does not mean that people would roam around fully naked tomorrow and that is fine .. everything should be within religious and national sentiments and no person or party no matter how powerful or popular he/they/she is has any right to hurt any sentiments .. there are things acceptable in the modern society but that should not be outside the limits .. let him go to Qatar or to Haiti and I dont care but his art was nowhere within acceptable limits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Temujin Khaghan Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 it gets awkward when someone else intrudes into your space. the reason for the hindu backlash is the same an aussie would do if a spanish director wanted to depict racism in australia or the same reason a white american would feel angry if a asian artist wants to depict the shameful past of slavery in america. The thing is that the majority of people of any sect would feel provoked when a person of a different sect wants to handle some sensitive things of their present or past. another example is that of indians reacting to the way the british director portrayed mumbai in the movie slumdog millionaire. i dont think there would have been so much outrage had a hindu drew the same paitings. Well there would have been some trouble but the intensity would have been a lot lesser. Telugu writer Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad won the Sahitya Akademi award this year for his novel Draupadi. The award announcement was followed by protests in Andhra Pradesh and elsewhere against alleged misinterpretation of the mythological character. There is a lot of obscenity in the novel. But the intensity of protests are a lot lower. The author doesnt feel the need to move out of his house. Had a muslim published a similar book even with mild obscenity... all hell would break loose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffee_rules Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 ^^agree. It's more because of his religion that caused the outrage in this case. If he was a hindu painter, the outrage woiuld have been milder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beetle Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 The govt has promised hm security and the fact is that the right wing goondas are not like the armed terrorists from across the border. The govt can easily make sure that none of these goons can come near him.He is not the only one they have threatened. He just doesn't want to come back and face the law of the land which does have rules against disrespecting religion and religious feelings. He is probably enjoying life outside India like a lot of other Indians but likes to make these noises every now and then to stay a "victim" and to stay in the news. The govt of India should assure him security one more time and tell him to take it or lump it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSK Fan Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 What is so ironic is that the first couple of posts are almost word to word copy of the kind of speeches made by the very Taliban these posters seem to condemn so much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DomainK Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 Madhuri Dixit will breath a sigh of relief. She can come back to India now that this creepy stalker is gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asterix Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 I'm amazed about some so called Hindu's who always find no harm in other people abusing Hindu deities and try to portray themselves as "secular, broadminded, liberal" Hindus. You guys should be ashamed of yourselves. The paintings by MOFO Hussain of Hindu deities has hurt me a lot. If that makes me similar to the Talibans, so be it. Can't give our asses in a platter for everybody to **** of and be pleased at being 'libral, secular and boradminded' Hindu.. other Non-Hindus preaching here in this topic to Hindus, STFU and mind your own religion. Good riddance MOFO Hussain..But am dissappinted that you got scot free after the murder Hindu feelings you did so blatantly for so many years in the guise of 'artistic freedom'..Hope you get you come uppance where ever you live and in this life only.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gunner Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 How many of you seriously believe that you can get away in North America or Europe with a painting of a naked Jesus humping a farm animal? The reason I bring this up is to point out that people still have strong religious sentiments and there is no point in offending them. It applies equally to all religions. I am equally not in favour of either Hussain's paintings or Rushdie's satanic verses. Btw, I thought there was a law in India against incitement of religious sentiments, wouldn't it be applicable here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EnterTheVoid Posted February 26, 2010 Share Posted February 26, 2010 I'm amazed about some so called Hindu's who always find no harm in other people abusing Hindu deities and try to portray themselves as "secular, broadminded, liberal" Hindus. You guys should be ashamed of yourselves. The paintings by MOFO Hussain of Hindu deities has hurt me a lot. If that makes me similar to the Talibans, so be it. Can't give our asses in a platter for everybody to **** of and be pleased at being 'libral, secular and boradminded' Hindu.. Well said. ****ing disgusting those paintings are but even more disgusting is the support that ****er got, from Hindus nonetheless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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