![\"\"](\"http:\/\/tehelka.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Maqbool-Fida-Husain.jpg\")
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This is not about Sharma, Manimekalai or Moitra; neither is it about the BJP, TMC or any other political party. It is about today\u2019s India, losing its secular identity with faiths crossing paths.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Maqbool Fida Husain, the celebrated artist, who spent his sunset years away from his home in India, liberally used the freedom of expression tool, to bring alive the gods on canvas. Except there were only Hindu deities that were on his radar. Worse still, he painted them in the nude: Goddess Saraswati in black and white and Parvati as\u00a0Aparn,<\/em>\u00a0or without leaves among others.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Hell broke loose when the barefoot painter dared to paint India, inflamed in red. Once again in the nude, this was among Husain\u2019s most controversial works: a weeping woman portrayed as India, titled\u00a0Bharat Mata.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n For record, Husain claimed that he had never given that title, even as right-wing organizations like VHP and RSS were baying for his blood. There was a reward on his head and he was forced into exile in 2006.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Till his death in the summer of 2011, Husain longed to return to India even if it was, to quote his friend \u201cfor half an hour for a cup of\u00a0chai\u00a0<\/em>\u201d. He never could: either for his\u00a0khus chai<\/em>\u00a0at the Irani caf\u00e9 in Mumbai or the\u00a0jalebi<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0at the Cricket Club.<\/p>\n During one of his conversations, Husain had reportedly spoken about the age-old tradition of\u00a0painting and sculpting gods and goddesses. His argument: Hindus were tolerant enough to understand the art.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy don\u2019t you paint Islamic history\u201d he was once asked by some Muslims from Hyderabad: \u201cDo you\u201d he had then shot back, \u201chave the tolerance that Hindus have?\u201d.<\/p>\n Irrespective, Husain toyed with Hindu gods and goddesses despite protests and legal cases being slapped against him.\u00a0\u00a0A Hindu organization went as far as calling him \u201canti-national and perverse artist\u201d.<\/p>\n One shudders to think how things would have panned out were Husain alive today?<\/p>\n For starters, his Muslim identity would have come handy for the rabid. They would have demanded his head for irreverence, blasphemy and sacrilege, conveniently forgetting that Husain is perhaps the only artist to have painted the Ramayana and Mahabharata in over a hundred canvases.<\/p>\n In the present context, secularism is a thing of the past. However, over-exploited and misused the term may have been, it did act as an adhesive to a country called India: a country that is fast becoming Hindustan. The fact that this sentiment draws its strength from the powers that rule, gives it legitimacy and validity.<\/p>\n If BJP\u2019s Sharma is in the line of fire for insulting the Prophet, Mahua Moitra of TMC, has supported a smoking Kali. Both Gods from different genres: Islam and Hinduism respectively.<\/p>\n Nupur Sharma raised a storm with what has popularly become to be known as the\u00a0Prophet remark.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n It started on a television debate and spilled to the streets.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Till the storm erupted , Sharma was a familiar face on Indian news channels, vociferously defending the BJP as its Party Spokesperson.<\/p>\n In May this year, Sharma made adverse remarks against Prophet Muhammad which sparked a massive outrage, both nationally and globally.\u00a0She had apparently\u00a0\u00a0lost her cool when another\u00a0\u00a0panelist, a Muslim, had mocked Hindu God Shiva.<\/p>\n The clip went viral and Sharma\u2019s head was on the chopping\u00a0block.<\/p>\n If Muslims in India took to the streets, the Arab world slammed India over the comments. Some went as far as pulling out Indian products from their supermarkets.<\/p>\n Sharma\u2019s suspension from the Party did little to placate Islamic nations. Or the fact that she withdrew her remarks unconditionally.<\/p>\n On its part, the BJP distanced itself from the comments stating that these were \u201cviews of fringe elements\u201d.<\/p>\n The definitions were decidedly skewed because to disown an official spokesperson and dub her as\u00a0fringe<\/em>\u00a0is too much to digest.<\/p>\n Back at home,\u00a0riots broke out across several parts of India.\u00a0Protestors\u00a0hit the streets and incidents of vandalism, stone-pelting and police vehicles being set on fire, were reported from different states.<\/p>\n Apart from Jharkhand, West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh,\u00a0incidents of violence were reported from the national capital of Delhi. If\u00a0\u00a0Jama Masjid was the hub in Delhi, in Maharashtra, women led the protests.<\/p>\n When\u00a0Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) jumped to Sharma\u2019s defence stating that the matter would be decided by the Court, little did it know that it was walking on fire.<\/p>\n It had not bargained for the caustic observations by the apex Court wherein it stated that Sharma\u2019s remarks were made for \u201ccheap publicity, a political agenda or for some nefarious activities”.<\/p>\n Castigating her, the Court observed that Sharma had a loose tongue; had set the entire country on fire, threatened the security of the nation and is single handedly responsible for what is happening across the country.<\/p>\n Harsh words for someone seeking justice from the same Courts that chose to damn her.<\/p>\n If the Court\u2019s observations put Sharma in the dock, there was also an outpouring of support for her.<\/p>\n As many as 117 retired judges and civil servants shot off a letter, dubbing the\u00a0comments to be \u201cunprecedented\u201d. The\u00a0\u201cLakshman Rekha\u201d, they added,\u00a0\u00a0\u201chad been surpassed\u201d.<\/p>\n Till the Courts stepped in, Sharma was the villain of the piece. There were only a handful who shed tears, pointing\u00a0\u00a0a finger at the BJP for making her a sacrificial goat.<\/p>\n Politicians, too, were quick to jump in.<\/p>\n Congress leader Rahul Gandhi squarely blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and company for vitiating the atmosphere in the country and creating an environment of \u201canger and hatred\u201d.<\/p>\n Sitaram Yechury of\u00a0\u00a0CPI (M) said it was an \u201cindictment\u00a0of the divisiveness BJP promotes and the hate its leaders and trolls consistently fan\u201d.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Sharma fought a lone battle with rabble rousers demanding her head.<\/p>\n However, within the BJP, there were\u00a0misgivings about Sharma being made a scapegoat.<\/p>\n Apart from the BJP succumbing to international pressure and acting against one of its own, there was a worry about the messaging.<\/p>\n This has two dimensions: on the one hand, it was about the morale of the rank and file. The Party cracking the whip on Sharma for doing her job has not gone down well in some sections.<\/p>\n Worse still, it has shown the BJP as a Party willing to compromise when the going gets tough. That the BJP succumbed under international pressure is a given. The way things have panned out, it is unlikely that the second rung will willingly stick\u00a0its neck out.<\/p>\n The other dimension, and perhaps the more important one, is political.<\/p>\n he BJP bending over backwards to be at someone\u2019s bidding, read\u00a0\u00a0Muslims, may not augur well for the saffron Party.<\/p>\n Even if backlash is a strong word to use in this context, BJP\u2019s core vote bank, namely the Hindus, are likely to feel let down by a Party that they have\u00a0backed to the hilt. At least till now. Of course with the Party being on a high, these are minor storms that it can well battle.<\/p>\n The dust has yet to settle on the Prophet versus Shiva controversy, as it were, when another demon raised\u00a0\u00a0its head.\u00a0\u00a0And this time around it is goddess Kali, known for slaying the devil.<\/p>\n It all started with a movie poster shared by filmmaker Leena Manimekalai wherein a woman depicted as goddess Kali is seen smoking a cigarette. She is also shown wielding the trident and a sickle\u00a0as well as carrying the LGBTQ+ community flag: \u201cMy Kaali is queer. She is a free spirit. She spits at the patriarchy\u201d, announced the controversial filmmaker.<\/p>\n A section of the Hindu community was up in arms seeking legal action against Toronto based, Manimekalai.<\/p>\n A political dimension to the entire controversy was given by Mahua Moitra, an MP and a vocal member of the Trinamool Congress.<\/p>\n Moitra is partially right because goddess Kaali\u2019s worship necessitates\u00a0bali<\/em>\u00a0or sacrifice. How the smoking bit fits in, is anyone\u2019s guess.<\/p>\n Quite predictably, the TMC distanced itself from Moitra\u2019s remarks stating that whatever Moitra had said was in her personal capacity.<\/p>\n Even while there was a clamour for her resignation, the Party\u00a0chose not to act against Moitra.\u00a0\u00a0Neither did it dub her an outcast or to use BJP\u2019s terminology, a fringe element.<\/p>\n If anything, Party chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that mistakes made by people can be rectified.<\/p>\n But this is not to suggest that Moitra is having it easy. She is facing multiple FIRs for her comments.<\/p>\n One reason for the TMC not doing a\u00a0Nupur Sharma on Moitra, could, perhaps, be that the pressure\u00a0was not as intense.<\/p>\n Sharma was on\u00a0slippery ground because being a Hindu, she had taken on a Muslim god.<\/p>\n On the other hand, Moitra, a Hindu herself, was attacking one of her own. This, in one sense, made her crime comparatively minor. More importantly, there was no ground for communal tension.<\/p>\n Unlike Sharma who immediately apologized, Moitra remains defiant. Firebrand as she is, this probably\u00a0is in her DNA.<\/p>\n But this is not about Sharma, Manimekalai or Moitra; neither is it about the BJP, TMC or any other political party. This is\u00a0also not about the Party in power pitched against ones that are not; or one community\u00a0demanding the head of another. Neither is it a test of anyone\u2019s endurance.<\/p>\n It is much worse. It is about a nation that seems to be fast losing its sanity. It is about fanatics creating a deep and almost\u00a0irreparable divide. It is about\u00a0today\u2019s India, losing its secular identity and fast becoming\u00a0\u00a0a Hindustan where faiths cross paths and Gods are mocked at be it the Prophet, Shiva or Kaali.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is not about Sharma, Manimekalai or Moitra; neither is it about the BJP, TMC or any other political party. It is about today\u2019s India, losing its secular identity with faiths crossing paths. Maqbool Fida Husain, the celebrated artist, who spent his sunset years away from his home in India, liberally used the freedom of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":128,"featured_media":338566,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23,2205],"tags":[453,15404,15338,1280,14744,1682],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338563"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/128"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338563"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338563\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":338567,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338563\/revisions\/338567"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/338566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/tehelka.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Kumkum-Chadha-nupur-sharma.jpg\")
Pitch the past with the present: a Nupur Sharma or a Mahua Moitra belittling the gods. They may not have a brush in hand but they sure are wielding a hate weapon which is irreparably damaging the social fabric of what once was secular India.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/tehelka.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Kumkum-Chadha-FXK18AvUYAAVxlS.jpg\")
Moitra stirred the hornet\u2019s nest by saying that Kaali is a \u201cmeat eating and alcohol accepting goddess\u201d.<\/p>\n