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Paush Krushna Navami, Kaliyug Varsha 5111

Shimla, Jan. 7: M.F. Husain has turned out to be a tad too hot for school authorities in Himachal.

The state school education board has removed a chapter on the painter from a Class XI Hindi textbook from the academic session 2010-11, apparently uncomfortable with the story behind one of his early sketches — of a sweeper woman.

The book, Aakash Antral Part-1, will instead have chapters on two other painters, Sobha Singh and Nicholas Roerich, according to a decision taken yesterday.

However, the decision to remove the chapter on Husain — now in self-imposed exile abroad following several lawsuits after his nude depiction of Bharat Mata — was taken in March last year.

“The decision to remove the chapter on Husain from this session was taken last year. We have decided to include the chapters on Shobha Singh and Nicholas Roerich,” Chaman Lal Gupta, chairman, Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education, said.

“We received many objections and complaints from NGOs and teachers about this chapter. The board had constituted a subject review committee, which suggested removing the chapter.”

Gupta refused to say what the complaints were but said Husain’s paintings “cannot be discussed” with students. “So we have decided to remove the chapter from this academic session.”

The chapter — Husain Ki Kahani Apni Zubani or Husain’s story in his own words — is about the painter’s early life.

It tells how he started his career in art. One page says how Husain made a sketch of a woman, a sweeper, who used to visit his uncle’s store to buy soap.

One day, the woman noticed the sketch, grabbed it from Husain and put it in her choli (blouse). Husain got the sketch back by offering her a mint tablet, says the story.

The painter, now in his nineties, left India in 2006 after several lawsuits were filed against him for his depiction of the Bharat Mata in the nude. The Supreme Court has thrown out some cases but several are still pending.

The state school education board had prescribed the textbook three years ago and the decision to remove the chapter came after the BJP returned to power.

Sobha Singh (1901-1986) and Roerich (1874-1947) had both settled in Himachal Pradesh. Singh, who was born in Punjab, had set up a studio in Andretta, in Kangra district, after Partition.

Roerich was a Russian painter, philosopher, scientist, writer and traveller. In 1928, he set up his base at Naggar near Kullu.

Source: Telegraph India

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