M.F.
Husain’s Paintings represent bullying; they don’t represent secularism
Some
misguided people of India painstakingly portrayed paintings of Husain as
representing secularism and secularist interests. However, Husain’s paintings
only demonstrate the selective derision of Hinduism than anything else. The recent
issue of Charlie Hebdo killing makes one wonder about Husain. Unfortunately, Charlie
Hebdo was not as conniving as Husain. He drew cartoons on many religious
figures and his secularism was evident in all of his work. Husain only drew
mocking paintings of Hindu deities, but not others. Husain’s followers (many
were Hindus) and coreligionists have praised him for his mocking paintings of
Hindu deities. However, Husain’s coreligionists were not as tolerant when it
comes to their own religion. They are only tolerant when it comes to other
religions than their own. They never bothered to condemn Husain’s caricatures
of Hindu deities but did so with Charlie Hebdo cartoons, and some even went so
far as to kill Charlie Hebdo. Maybe one should be crafty like Husain to
receive international fame and acclaim at the expense of other religions, but
not their own.
One
should not banish cartoons or drawings on any subjects including religious
subjects. However one should be mindful of the choice, and question if one were
to single out and draw discriminatory paintings or cartoons on a single
religion. Targeting a single religion would constitute bullying rather than
secularism. On that note, it can be said that Husain's paintings are a bullying tactic.
Husain’s
nudes of Hindu deities
I suppose,
we could assume that Husain is doing a great favor to Hindus by drawing these
images trying to open them up for secularism and be open to taking any
critique (even if it is silly) in stride. But why not render the same favor to
other religions- may be his own religion? Why not draw Fatima or Aisha or Mohammad,
if not nude at least in the loving embrace of each other? He shows quite a restraint
when it comes to Islamic subjects, but goes berserk when it comes to Hindu
subjects. What is wrong? For Husain Hinduism seems to be an easy target, a
religion that could be mocked and made fun of with a couple of free and easy
brush strokes. The paintings don’t even have to look good. He even won the
highest civilian award for being so reckless with his drawings of Hindu
deities. It even won him international acclaim and sympathy from anti-Hindu
elements worldwide. He is even seen as a protector of Muslim sentiments and
welcomed with open arms to immigrate to Khatar. Would the followers of other
religions be as tolerant if he were to draw similar paintings of their revered
deities? He did not even draw nudes of Hindu deities, he went even further; he
drew caricatures of them. Would he similarly dare to draw caricatures of
deities of other religions? Well, we know the answer, he never dared to do it;
in fact, he never even contemplated doing such a thing: One of the reasons he is
regarded as the champion of the interests of Islam. His nudes of Hindu deities
clearly show that he harbored animosity towards Hinduism, which came out in
the form of his paintings.
Caricatures
of Hindu deities
What
has Sita ever done to anyone? Her life was so lonely and so sad. She loved
Rama, and suffered her whole life for being loyal to Rama, who cared more about
his prestige and kingly duties than his wife. How can anyone be so mean to
Sita as to draw her nude riding on the shoulders of Hanuman? Hindus have always
revered Sita as the most loyal wife of Rama. Stories of her faithfulness to
Rama is part of her story. In fact, one of the common stories anyone hears
about Sita is that she refused to go home when Hanuman visited her in Lanka and
requested her to do so. Sita had told Hanuman to just convey her message to
Rama. Why is it that Husain cannot be sympathetic to Sita and had to draw her
nude riding on the shoulders of Hanuman? Was he such a misogynist that he is
not interested in understanding feminine sorrows, or was he trying to mock Sita
for being loyal to her love in times of intense struggle? Where does his
sympathy lay? Does he hate monogamy? Is Husain’s issue with monogamy or Rama or
Sita? May be living most of his life single might not have helped him
understand the pleasures of monogamous love. At least he should respect the
sentiments of others who understand it and still practice monogamy.
There can be only one reason to do these paintings, either fame or to prove his superior intellect by bullying others by proving other's beliefs as silly. It seems
likely that towards the end of his life he became a megalomaniac and probably
not sure what he had to do to fulfill his desire. If not, then it is only probable that he had harbored such animosity towards his fellow countrymen who are
Hindus that he had to express it in such a way as to bully them and prove his superiority. Otherwise, it is difficult to
understand how or why he would resort to drawing such images, which he had
never done before during his long career. The government of India should
politely withdraw the civilian award Padmasri bestowed on him for his reckless
drawings that hurt the sentiments of millions of Hindus worldwide.
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