\"Be violent or else we won’t listen\"

By now, many of you will be familiar with the issue of the (now cancelled) art exhibition at Asia House, London. The exhibition was due to run from May 10th through to 5th August, and was dedicated exclusively to early works of Indian artist Maqbool Fida Husain. Hindu Voice UK has previously carried a story on the controversial reputation that Husain carries with many Hindus, due to his ‘strange’ depictions of Hindu Gods and Goddesses.
The exhibition displayed two of the more controversial Husain paintings. One of these showed Durga in a lewd act with her lion, and it was this picture that was used by Asia House on their advertisement for the exhibition. This upset some Hindus. Several individuals and groups wrote to Asia House expressing their disappointment.

Asia House on their part did not respond or issue any statement. I find this more than a bit lax on their part, seeing as one of their aims, in their own words, is to "establish a strong relationship with the resident Asian communities." In light of this, they could have arranged a meeting with some of the people who had attempted to contact them, or at least issued a statement explaining their position on the matter. But they chose to ignore the simmering discontent.

One of the groups that had written to Asia House was the London-based Hindu Human Rights group, who subsequently decided to hold a protest (which was later cancelled) against the exhibition. The protest was to take place outside Asia House. On their part, Asia House still refused to hold any dialogue or issue a statement of any sort.

Then, something very unfortunate happened. Some rabble decided to take the law into its own hands and attack at the gallery. The incident allegedly caused ?200,000 worth of damage. Needless to say, such a reckless act of vandalism is unacceptable and undignified. But, on the part of the vandals, their attack seemed to have the desired effect. Asia House decided to end the exhibition, apparently the very next day.

This whole sorry episode sends a very harmful and dangerous message to the largely law abiding Hindu community, as well as to society at large. Asia House showed that they were not willing to even acknowledge people who expressed their sentiments through legitimate means. But they bowed down straight away to a group of pathetic vandals who used despicable and unlawful methods. This gives the message that if you express yourself through mild and lawful means, a complaint is not going to be acknowledged or heard. You are not going to be seen as worth listening to. But if you step outside of the law and take the matters into your own hands, then you will get what you want.

Hindus in the UK have for the most part stayed away from such destructive behaviour. On the whole, our community has an excellent law and order record. Let us hope that it stays this way, and that this unpleasant incident proves to be an isolated exception, rather than a precedent.