It is official; M.F. Hussain has accepted Qatar citizenship. This, of course, comes with the loss of his Indian citizenship as dual citizenship is not allowed here. The flag bearers of 'morality' should be rejoicing at having successfully driven out a 95 year old man out of the country he called his home. As such I am not a fan of M.F. Hussain's work but it pains me to see that a world-renowned artist getting such shoddy treatment from his homeland.
We call ourselves a democratic country but when push comes to shove, democracy goes flying out of the window. We boast of freedom of speech, yet the moment we speak anything some faction or the other rises up in arms. Lyrics of songs need to be changed because of allegations of promoting caste differences, a film's title has to be changed to pacify members of a particular profession and woe betide you if you dare to refer a city by its old name. How about a reality check, people? Casteism is not a myth thought up by some Bollywood director, its rampant today even in the affluent and educated sections of society. Everyone wants their 15 minutes of fame and if they get it by protesting on some non-issue so be it.
Calling a city by its old name will create a ruckus but when that same city is held hostage by terrorists, none of the self appointed moral police will risk their skins to save their motherland. The people who did do that were not from any particular part of the country, they were soldiers who had pledged their lives to the whole of India. What satisfaction do we get out of exiling someone from his country just because he invoked his artistic license? His work can be banned but how can we ban the person himself? That too in the country where a terrorist who shot and killed innocent people in full view lives comfortably in jail with crores being spent on his security. Who are we kidding, we do not belong to any democracy. We are proud of our cultural heritage but the future holds very little hope for the budding artist or writer. With fanatics looking over your shoulder, what new masterpieces can be added to India's kitty? We will have to hold on to what has already been created because new horizons are being closed to us forever.
We call ourselves a democratic country but when push comes to shove, democracy goes flying out of the window. We boast of freedom of speech, yet the moment we speak anything some faction or the other rises up in arms. Lyrics of songs need to be changed because of allegations of promoting caste differences, a film's title has to be changed to pacify members of a particular profession and woe betide you if you dare to refer a city by its old name. How about a reality check, people? Casteism is not a myth thought up by some Bollywood director, its rampant today even in the affluent and educated sections of society. Everyone wants their 15 minutes of fame and if they get it by protesting on some non-issue so be it.
Calling a city by its old name will create a ruckus but when that same city is held hostage by terrorists, none of the self appointed moral police will risk their skins to save their motherland. The people who did do that were not from any particular part of the country, they were soldiers who had pledged their lives to the whole of India. What satisfaction do we get out of exiling someone from his country just because he invoked his artistic license? His work can be banned but how can we ban the person himself? That too in the country where a terrorist who shot and killed innocent people in full view lives comfortably in jail with crores being spent on his security. Who are we kidding, we do not belong to any democracy. We are proud of our cultural heritage but the future holds very little hope for the budding artist or writer. With fanatics looking over your shoulder, what new masterpieces can be added to India's kitty? We will have to hold on to what has already been created because new horizons are being closed to us forever.
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