[Reader-list] Protest against the arrest of an art student and suspension of the dean of M S Univ - Monday, 14th May

Sun May 13 23:56:38 IST 2007

[Please circulate widely]

By now, you would have read, heard or seen the news of the arrest of a
student, Chandra Mohan, and the suspension of the dean of Maharaja Sayajirao
University's Fine Arts faculty in Baroda, Prof. Shivaji Panikker. (For those
who haven't, please catch up through the press links below.)

A simultaneous all-India public protest will take place on 14th May, at 6
p.m.

The Mumbai protest wil be in front of Jehangir Art Gallery.

Those attending are requested to wear black and/or white.

For details of other protests, please see
http://fineartsfacultymsu.blogspot.com/

Below these links, please read:
Hindu Sacred Art Offends Self-appointed Custodians of Hindu Culture, By
Ranjit Hoskote, and an open letter from Gulammohammed Sheikh.

News links:
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070011809
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Suspended_fine_arts_teacher_Panikkar_goes_into_hiding/articleshow/2039041.cms

http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/002200705121859.htm
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=2&theme=&usrsess=1&id=156119
http://www.hindu.com/2007/05/11/stories/2007051117101500.htm
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/baroda-art-controversy-intensifies/40455-3.html
http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=370961&sid=REG
http://www.saharasamay.com/samayhtml/articles.aspx?newsid=75220
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=235916
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=9cb71e3b-4392-4d4b-95bc-f9730065c67e&&Headline=MS+University+dean+suspended+in+Gujarat
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=8f2213c7-4b12-4e48-9b7c-40302cd7a968&&Headline=Vadodara+art+student+lands+in+jail

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Hindu Sacred Art Offends Self-appointed Custodians of Hindu Culture
by Ranjit Hoskote

In a grimly ironic turn of events following the 9 May arrest, without a
proper warrant, of Chandramohan, a final-year fine arts student at  the M S
University, Baroda, the self-appointed custodians of Hindu culture have now
demanded the closure of an exhibition showing the vital role of the erotic
in Hindu sacred art.

Earlier today, 11 May, students of the Faculty of Fine Arts at the M S
University put up an exhibition of reproductions of images drawn from across
2500 years of Indian art. In a silent protest against the brutality with
which their fellow student has been treated for exhibiting works that BJP
and VHP activists claim are offensive and obscene, the students put up
pictures of the Gudimallam Shiva, perhaps the earliest known Shiva image,
which combines the lingam with an anthropomorphic form; a Kushan mukha-linga
or masked lingam; Lajja-gouris from Ellora and Orissa, resplendent in their
fecund nakedness; erotic statuary from Modhera, Konark and Khajuraho; as
well as Raga-mala paintings from Rajasthan. All these images, among the
finest produced through the centuries in the subcontinent, celebrate the
sensuous and the passionate dimensions of existence – which, in the Hindu
world-view, are inseparably twinned with the austere and the contemplative.

This treasure of Hindu sacred art did not win the favour of the
establishment. The Pro Vice Chancellor issued a verbal request that the
exhibition be closed, which the Dean of the Fine Arts Faculty, Dr Shivaji
Panikkar, ignored. A written order followed, and was similarly ignored. The
Pro Vice Chancellor then arrived at the venue, accompanied by some members
of the Syndicate of the University. They  requested Dr Panikkar to close
down the exhibition, then ordered him to do so. When it became clear that
the Dean would not bend to their will, they had the exhibition locked.

It appears that the champions of a resurgent Hindu identity are acutely
embarrassed by the presence of the erotic at the centre of Hindu sacred art.
As they may well be, for the roots of Hindutva do not lie in Hinduism.
Rather, they lie in a crude mixture of German romanticism, Victorian
puritanism and Nazi methodology.

What happens next? Will the champions of Hindutva go around the country
destroying temple murals, breaking down monuments, and burning manuscripts
and folios?

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Open Letter from Gulammohammed Sheikh

Dear friends

You must have known through media reports that Chandra Mohan, a student from
the Department of Graphics at the Fine Arts College in Baroda has been
arrested on 9th of May 2007 for making an allegedly controversial painting
depicting nude figures with some religious motifs. The arrest followed the
storming of the university premises by a group of outsiders. The work in
question was part of a display in the college premises for assessment by a
team of examiners for a Master's degree in Fine Arts. Charged with sections
153 and 114 as well as sections 295 A and 295 B, he has been denied bail and
is presently in Central Jail, Baroda.

In a civilized society any dispute on a controversial depiction or content
of a work of art can be dealt with through dialogue and consultation with
experts in the field rather than left to self-appointed moral police
employing coersive means. In the present case, the outsiders taking law into
their hands barged into the university campus without prior permission, did
not consult or inform the Dean of the Faculty before disrupting the annual
examinations in progress. The reports are that they returned again to abuse
the Dean and threatened him with dire consequences.

Such an instance of assault on a student by outsiders in the university
premises is unprecedented in the history of the Faculty of Fine Arts and
must be condemned in no uncertain terms. The Fine Arts College known
nationally and internationally for upholding the highest standards of
creative and critical practice has also earned reputation for its firm
commitment to the freedom of expression. The former authorities of the
university like Smt. Hansa Mehta, the very first Vice Chancellor in the
fifties up to Prof. Bhikhu Parekh in the eighties have stood by the Faculty
and its ideals. The present assault seems to strike at the very ideals on
which it was built by pioneering artist-academics and supported by
enlightened university authorities. The present administration of the
university has not initiated any action against the trespassers or applied
for bail for the victimized student. The students and staff of the Fine Arts
College have organized a dharna and the Acting Dean, Prof. Shivaji Panikker
has planned to undertake a hunger strike in the College premises against the
assault on the student and callous attitude of the university authorities.
(Latest report is that the Department of Art History has been sealed and
Prof Panikker has been suspended by the university authorities). A
solidarity demonstration of artists, intellectuals and cultural workers from
all over India is called on 14th of May at the Fine Arts College premises
beginning 2 pm with an appeal to all concerned to gather there to lend their
support. (Contact details below*).

As an alumnus and former teacher of the Faculty of Fine Arts, I fear these
developments may imperil the working of an institution which in many ways
has formed our lives; and is indeed an integral part of what we are today. I
hope all other alumni and teachers as well as concerned artists and
intellectuals of the country will come forward to protect it in its moment
of crisis when the values it stands for are threatened.

Gulammohammed Sheikh
11th May, 2007

Venue:
Faculty of Fine Arts (or Fine Arts College),
Pushpabug, University Road, Vadodara (Baroda) 390002

Time:
2 p.m. onwards

Contact emails: Shivaji Panikker: shivji dot panikkar at gmail dot com
Deeptha Achar : deeptha dot achar at gmail dot com

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