Protest: Jamia Millia Islamia to celebrate birthday of anti-Hindu M F Husain

New Delhi: The Outreach Programme of Jamia Millia Islamia in association with SAHMAT (Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust) is organizing a special event – For Husain at 94 – celebrating the 94th birthday of artist MF Husain, Saalgirah Mubarak – on September 17 at the M F Husain Gallery, Jamia Milia Islamia.

An exhibition of over 100 artworks which have been made as a gift for Husain by both eminent and emerging artists and art students will open that morning at 11 am. Through the day, his movies will be screened. They include Gajagamini, (2000), with Madhuri Dixit, Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities, (2004), with Tabu, and Through the Eyes of a Painter, (1966) – which won the Silver Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival.

The filmmaker and critic K Bikram Singh will deliver a lecture on the work of Husain based on his large new book on the painter. The Vice Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, Najeeb Jung, will release the book, For Husain at 94, which is the tribute gift to Husain from artists. The evening will end with an Iftar outside the gallery.

This exhibition and book is both a tribute and a celebration of the work and life of Husain from artists and a reminder to Husain that in spite of attempts to denigrate his art and his forced exile, the creative community holds him in the highest regard.

Hundreds of artists will be celebrating the event. They include Ajay Desai, Aji V.N., Akash Gaur, Alex Mathew, Alexis Kersey, Amitava Das, Anjolie Ela Menon, Anju Dodiya, Anjum Singh, Archana Hande, Arpana Caur, Arpita Singh, Arun Kumar H.G., Ashim Ghosh, Atul Dodiya, Aurogeeta Das, Bari Kumar, Bharati Kapadia, Bharati Kher, Birendra Pani, Durga Kainthola, Eleena Banik, Gargi Raina, Gauri Gill, Gazanfar Zaidi, Gigi Scaria, Gulammohammed Sheikh, Habib Rahman, Hafeez Ahmed, Haku Shah, Inder Salim, Jehangir Jani, Jitish Kallat, Joydip Sengupta, Kanchan Chander, Kanishka Prasad, Kaushal Sonkaria, Kaushik Sengupta, Kavita Nayyar, Kiyomi Talaulicar, M.S. Prakash Babu, Madhvi Parekh, Manisha Parekh, Manu Parekh, Meera Devidayal, Megha Joshi, Meher Pestonji, Mira Nayar, Mithila Maniketh, Mona Rai, Mukesh Sharma, Navjot Altaf, Neeta Mohindra, Nida Mahmood & Raoul Chandra, Nilima Sheikh, Nuzhat Kazmi, Pallav Chander, Paramjit Singh, Parthiv Shah, Prashant Panjiar & Itu Chaudhuri, Pravat Mishra, Prem Singh, Priyanka Dua, Pushpamala N., Raja Jaikrishan, Ram Rahman, Ranbir Kaleka, Rashmi Kaleka, Rekha Rao, Richard Bartholomew, Saba Hasan, Samit Das, Samjo Husain, Sandeep Biswas, Satish Panchal, Shamshad, Shobha Broota, Showket Kathjoo, Subodh Gupta, Sudhir Patwardhan, Sunil Gupta, Tabassum Zaidi, Tanmay Santra, Tanmaya Tyagi, Vijay Sekhon, Veer Munshi, Venktesh Desai, Vibha Galhotra, Vijay S.Jodha, Viswanadhan, Vivan Sundaram besides students of Delhi College of Art and Jamia Millia Islamia Art Department.

Source: TwoCircles

Protest Letter by Hindu Janajagruti Samiti

To,

  1. SAFDAR HASHMI MEMORIAL 1.TRUST (SAHMAT)
      29, FEROZE SHAH ROAD, NEAR MANDI HOUSE, NEW DELHI-110001
      TEL NO.: 011-2338 1276, 011-2307 0787
      EMAIL: [email protected], [email protected]

  2. Jamia Millia Islamia, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi-110025, India
      Phone: +91(11)26981717, Fax: +91(11)2698 0229 [email protected]

Subject: Protest to stop celebration of 94th birthday of M. F. Husain organised by Jamia Millia along with your trust (Sahmat) on 17th Sep.2009.

Dear sirs,

Hindu Janajagruti Samiti is an NGO engaged in Nation building, educating people about Dharma & Dharmacharan, awakening & uniting Hindus. The objective of the Samiti is to create awareness about Hindu issues, to educate about Hindu Dharma, to achieve broader social interests instead of their narrow-minded power centric goals, to stop denigration of Hindu Dharma (Righteousness) and to protect the Nation.

It is understood from the given information on your web site that your Trust is planning to celebrate birthday of the most immoral painter M.F.Husain on 17th of September, 2009.This exhibition and book is both a tribute and a celebration of the work and life of Husain from artists and a reminder to Husain that in spite of attempts to denigrate his art and his forced exile, the creative community holds him in the highest regard. (This is a shocking and provoking statement)

We request the so called creative community to be bold enough to celebrate birthday of Denmark cartoonist and put up the cartoon of Mohammad Paigamber drawn by the Denmark painter. This act will show the true intention of your Trust that it is NOT an organisation with the mentality of glorying an accused painter who has hurt religious sentiments of millions of Hindus.

If we have to coexist in one country we will have to respect each other’s feelings.

Further we would like to bring to your notice that MF Hussein has hurt the Religious and National sentiments of crores of Hindus and Indians because of his blasphemous painting of Hindu deities and naked Bharat Mata.

More than 1,250 police complaints have been lodged against him and lot of court cases are going on against him throughout India. He has been accused of outraging religious sentiments, promoting enmity between different religious groups, selling obscene material and disturbing National integrity, thereby committing offences under several sections of the Indian Penal Code. He has also been accused of committing offenses under section 2 of the prevention of Insults to National Honour Act.

Further please note that the Mumbai Police Special Branch is investigating the matter and appropriate action would be taken against M. F. Hussein in due course. The proposed Roopdhar award 2006, Raja Ravi Varma Award, auction of his Rs 6 crores painting by Khushi Foundation at the Turf Club and others have been cancelled and his paintings from various exhibitions are being removed due to large number of protests throughout India.

We request you to immediately stop the birthday celebration of this painter with immoral and criminal back ground organized by your Trust.You are requested not hold exhibition hurting religious sentiments of Hindus.

In case you do not co operate we may have to take further action against your Trust SAHMAT and Jamia Millia Islamia for promoting such a criminal who has denigrated our motherland and our deities.

Please acknowledge receipt. Please inform us the action being taken in the matter and oblige.