[Reader-list] More from Baroda: from Indrapramit Roy

[Shuddhabrata Sengupta]

Dear All,

This came to me earlier in the day from Indrapramit Roy, Senior Lecturer 
in the Department of Painting, MS University, Baroda.

best

Shuddha

-----------

Dear All,

The latest news from Baroda is that the University has suspended the
acting Dean Prof.Shivaji Panikkar from his job and there is also
pressure to make him a co-accused along with Chandramohan.
Chandramohan is still not able to get out on bail because the BJP-VHP
is creating furore at the court and forcing it to adjourn. Tomorrow
and the day after being  court holidays(Saturday & Sunday) the plan is
to impart exemplary punishment to Chandu and terrorise the faculty who
are accused of indecency and harboring anti-Gujarat sentiments!!!
The local press along with The Univ authority is cahoots with the
BJP/VHP and portraying all of us as public enemies who not only allow
display of indecent pictures but condone such behavior!

In the caredfully orchestrated melee no one is raising the real
question that how come the police in uniform walk into the faculty
premises without anybody's permission and take away a student without
even bothering to inform the In-charge Dean. For that matter the
University is not only refusing to take legal action against Mr Nirav
Jain for trespassing and using abusive language and threats in the
Faculty premises but no one from the University has appointed a lawyer
to fight Chandu's case. Dr Narendra Parmar,the advocate who is
fighting on our behalf is approached through the good offices of Mr
Rahul Amin(Industrialist and patron of art).

The students put up a small display of plates from the archive today
to highlight the point that art always dealt with themes that are
controversial and non-conformist but that was sealed by the Pro-VC who
marched into the faculty along with 4 Syndicate members and ordered
Prof Panikkar to shut it. When Prof Panikkar refused point blank he
not only braught the exhibition down but also sealed  the archive of
the Art History department. A police complaint was also logded by Mr
Jain to arrest Shivaji and make him a co-accused in the Chandramohan
case.Mr Jain who happens to be the head of VHP's legal cell is also
reprted (as published in The Indian Express today) to have openly
dared anybody to lodge an FIR as he would bring the whole city to a
stand still. There are also reports of burning of Shivaji's effigy in
Manjalpur area of the city yesterday. Sveral students have also
reported intimidation outside the Faculty premises.It is also brought
to our notice that several faculty members are to be targetted by the
University. Later in the evening news reached us that in an emergency
meeting the VC has taken the decision to suspend Prof Panikkar.

Yours sincerely

Indrapramit Roy
Sr Lecturer
Department of painting
faculty of Fine Arts
MSU of Baroda



On 11/05/07, Art India Magazine <artindia at gmail.com> wrote:
> The Free Chandramohan Committee: Public Meeting, 12 May 2007
>
>
> The Free Chandramohan Committee will hold a public meeting on
> Saturday,  12 May 2007, at 6 pm at Gallery Chemould Prescott Road, to
> protest against the arrest of the young artist Chandramohan by the
> Baroda police earlier this week.
>
> The meeting will be addressed by a number of speakers, among them
> noted cultural activists, commentators, film-makers, lawyers and
> artists, who will express solidarity with Chandramohan and draw up
> practical measures to secure his release.
>
> Among other issues, the meeting will discuss the ways by which the
> constitutional  safeguards can be implemented, as well as legal
> redress by which the onus in cases of alleged incitement of communal
> disharmony can be placed squarely on demagogues who distort artworks
> for their own political ends. More significantly, a lunatic fringe
> cannot claim monopoly over public space. Let us resolve not to cede
> public space to the forces of intolerance.
>
> Date: 12 May 2007 (Saturday)
> Time: 6 pm
> Place: Gallery   Chemould Prescott Road
>          Queens  Mansion (3rd Floor)
>          A K Naik Marg
>          Fort, Mumbai 400 001
>          Phones: 91 22 22000211, 91 22 22000212, 91 22 22000213
>          Email: gallerychemould at gmail.com
>
>
> An Outrage in Baroda
>
> An intolerable violation of cultural and academic freedom by communal
> forces took place in Baroda on Wednesday, 9 May 2007, when a group of
> Vishwa Hindu Parishad goons led by local BJP leader Niraj Jain stormed
> into the campus of the Faculty of Fine Arts, M S  University, Baroda.
> Breaking into the annual display of the final year students, the goons
> abused and attacked a student, Chandramohan, claiming that they found
> his works obscene and offensive to religious sentiments.
>
> The police, entering the campus, arrested Chandramohan without a
> proper warrant and without consulting the Faculty of Fine Arts, while
> allowing the inflammatory Jain and his goons to go free. Later, Jain
> was cordially received by the Vice-Chancellor of the University. This
> august functionary has not only refused to register a First
> Information Report against Jain, but has also refused to extend any
> assistance to Chandramohan. Indeed, the Vice-Chancellor has demanded
> that the student and the Dean of the Faculty of Fine arts should
> apologise to Jain.
>
> Chandramohan is now being held by the police while a charge-sheet is
> being prepared. He has been charged with various non-bailable
> offences, including the attempt to incite communal disharmony and
> public obscenity.
>
> This constitutes a straightforward violation of a young artist's right
> to express himself. It is also a grave case of the invasion of
> academic space by the police. Had such an incident taken place in
> Dhaka or Islamabad, we would all have been protesting against the
> dictatorial ways of authority.
>
> *
>
> Questions before Us
>
> The Baroda outrage raises serious questions about the State's ability,
> or even desire, to protect the cultural freedoms of individuals. We
> strongly condemn all attempts on the part of communal forces to
> violate cultural freedoms.
>
> The Baroda outrage takes on an ominous colour, given the history of
> infringements of artistic freedom during the last two decades,
> especially the campaign of vilification and persecution launched
> against M F Husain, and the rise of a chilling intolerance.
>
> Can we allow India to become an illiberal democracy, guided by
> competing populisms? Surely the onus, in such cases, should be on the
> people who create communal disharmony, using a cultural work as their
> pretext, and not on artists?
>