Monday, May 14, 2007 (Vadodara)
After the culture police, it's now the turn of students, artists and citizens to have their say in Vadodara.
The sharp reaction is in response to the arrest of art student Chandramohan by the police five days ago after he produced art works that the BJP and Sangh Parivar activists claimed were obscene.
The dean of the MS University has also been suspended.
Chandramohan has now been granted bail.
The students and faculty of the fine arts department will hold a public meeting in the city to express their solidarity with Chandramohan.
Students are also expected to organise a demonstration in the university campus.
Challenging norms
The faculty of fine arts at Baroda, established in 1951, was the first art school in India to offer degree and post graduate courses.
The work produced here very soon made a mark. It was considered provocative not for its themes but for the way it challenged the prevailing norms in the Indian art world.
But provocative turned controversial when one of it's most celebrated artist Bhupen Khakkar's work was brought down at no less than the esteemed National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi.
''Bhupen's work dealt with male nudity with homo-erotic relationships between men. The NGMA felt it was too hot for them to handle and went ahead and removed it,'' said Indrapramit Roy, artist and faculty member.
Art bullies
Another victim of the NGMA is artist Surendran Nair. In 2000, the BJP government's cultural secretary took offence to his work, removing it from the gallery.
''In my case also, it was depicting nudity. They felt that the figure standing on top of the Ashoka pillar was disrespectful to the sanctity of the national emblem.
''It is all about somebody's view against somebody else's view, privileging one interpretation over another. This is how fascist elements function,'' said Nair.
But now, the moral police has come home. The attacks are no longer just confined to gallery exhibitions, the VHP has attacked what the faculty says was a purely academic, internal display of student work.
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