Protest against Banyan for auction of Husain's painting

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Protest against Banyan for auction of Husain’s painting
Kalam’s pen, Husain’s brush for mentally-challenged women

Mumbai: Uma Ravi a proud Hindu in a mail to Banyan an organisation devoted to the rehabilitation of mentally-challenged women has protested against their auctioning of painting started by former President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam with the first few strokes on a canvas that will be completed by the notorious painter MF Husain. Uma Ravi has said that Husain has painted many nude pictures of Hindu deities in sexually compromising positions and denigrated them; Uma Ravi has requested them to kindly consider all these facts before proceeding further to raise funds for the Banyan. See mail below *.

(Congratulations to Uma Ravi for the prompt protest and who consider it as their duty to do it. They are the strengths of Hindu Dharma and serve as source of inspiration to others -Editor)

* From: uma ravi
Date: Aug 24, 2007 12:24 PM
Subject: Reg today’s news in the Hindu
To: [email protected]

Dear Vandanaji and Vaishnaviji,

I would like to extend warm regards for the excellence in social service which you have achieved thro sheer grit and determination. Regarding the news about Dr. Kalam’s first strokes on a canvas which is going to be completed by M.F. Hussain, I would like to apprise you on a few points.

M.F. Hussain has painted many nude pictures of Hindu deities in sexually compromising positions and denigrated them.

His apparent discrimination against Hindu deities can be seen from the very fact that he has not used the same ‘FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION’ version while painting his mother, a Muslim lady, Mother Theresa, who are seen fully clad. To top it all, as a goodwill gesture towards Bharat which has nurtured, rewarded and elevated to him to a high pedestal, he has painted Mother India in nude. He has been found guilty by the courts in many states, which have also issued an arrest warrant on him. The fact that, the finishing touch of the first strokes of ‘Bharat Ratna’ Shri. Abdul Kalam, by M.F. Hussain, a criminal under law, who is evading arrest and is residing in foreign countries is very pathetic, and is an insult not only to our former President but also to our country. You might be aware of the fact that recently ABN AMRO Bank which printed credit cards with M.F. Hussain’s painting on it , not only recalled it totally but also issued an apology. Kindly consider all these facts before proceeding further.

With warm regards,
Uma ravi.

Kalam’s pen, Husain’s brush for mentally-challenged women

Chennai: Former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam today painted the first few strokes on a canvas that will be completed by India’s most famous painter MF Husain ~ to raise funds for the Banyan, an organisation devoted to the rehabilitation of mentally-challenged women.

Dr Kalam, whose term at the Rashtrapati Bhavan ended last month, wrote on a blank canvas, in myriad hues of blue and green tinged with red and yellow: "Dream transforms into thought, thought results into action, that is Banyan." He then signed his name.

Husain’s son Mustafa, present here at the inauguration of Banyan’s community mental health centre and Spice Route, its social enterprise wing, will now take the canvas to the artist.

On completion, the painting will be auctioned and its price has been pegged at a minimum of Rs 2 crore. The money will go towards Banyan’s core fund for the mentally challenged and destitute women it supports.

"Banyan plans a corpus of $5 million and this year, it plans to raise at least Rs. 50 million," said ICICI Bank’s Nachiket Mor, who is also a volunteer with the group and has raised Rs 18 million at the Mumbai Marathon this January.

MF Husain and Mustafa Husain were approached by renowned filmmaker Mani Ratnam for Banyan’s ‘protected community’ project.

Banyan, started 14 years ago by Vandana Gopikumar and Vaishnavi Jayakumar, is an NGO that has so far taken in and offered shelter and health care to more than 1,800 mentally-challenged and destitute women.

"Of the 1,823 women who have come to Banyan, we have managed to provide all of them with medicare and return 1,101 of them to their families, scattered all over the country," said popular Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi, who has been associated with the organisation for more than five years now.

The community mental health centre set up by Banyan at a cost of about Rs 20 million in Kovalam village, about 50 km south of Chennai, will also house the Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental Health (BALM).

The protected community centre with cottages for 60 residents, who are very ill but cannot be returned to their families, have been set up with contributions from a dozen charities.

Among them are e-Funds, Willingdon Trust, Ratan Tata Trust, Floridon Trust, Zurich Financial Services Trust, Rangoonwalla Trust and CIM Germany.

Mor said that 1,000 or 2,000 challenged women "is not a small number in a country of our size. Banyan is now looking at how the decade of effort can be taken forward and Banyan is looking at a sustainable model."

Spice Route will be the commercial outlet for products made by those sheltered by Banyan.

Source: http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=2&theme=&usrsess=1&id=167394