mediawatchwatch.org.uk

42 scholars of South Asia have published a letter in the Guardian calling for the reinstatement of the MF Husain exhibition. They strongly condemn the Hindu Forum of Britain and Hindu Human Rights.

The Hindu Forum of Britain and Hindu Human Rights accuse Asia House of not “consulting” with them before putting on the exhibition. Consultation should not be a requirement for artistic expression.
These are unelected groups, not known for consulting democratically with the community before putting pressure on others in the name of Hinduism. Their actions would not be sanctioned by most Hindus. Hindu traditions have an extensive history of diverse representations of deities, include nude and erotic images of gods and goddesses. Hinduism has never possessed a concept of censorship of the kind that these authoritarian groups wish to promote. We urge Asia House to reopen this exhibition – by doing so it will honour the rich and diverse traditions of expression arising from Hinduism and from India.

All 42 signatories can be seen at Awaaz – South Asia Watch, “a UK-based secular network of individuals and organisations committed to monitoring and combating religious hatred in South Asia and in the UK”.

In a letter to the Guardian today Lord Desai, the Labour peer and academic, attacks the Hindu Human Rights Group believed to be behind the closure of the MF Husain exhibition at Asia House:

Hindu goddesses can be seen in a variety of poses which many may find erotic in the temples of Khajuraho and Tirupati … and many others. Hindu society and religion are remarkably relaxed and tolerant about sexual practices of human beings as well as of their gods and goddesses.

What we are witnessing is the import into the U.K. of a fanatical political group, which, under the guise of Hindu human rights, is practising censorship for which there is no sanction in Hindu religion. It is the duty of all citizens to stop this evil before it spreads too far into our body politic. The objection to Husain is not the so-called obscenity of his paintings. It is because he is a Muslim and hence, the Hindu fundamentalist groups deny his artistic freedom to take Hindu gods and goddesses as his theme.

Meanwhile, HHR have cancelled their planned demo this Saturday, and

would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those individuals and organisations that have supported our campaign and helped to let the voice of the Hindu community be heard. We will continue to monitor the situation and respond to any further developments.

They say are still waiting for an apology to the Hindu community.

Asia House is keeping very quiet, as is the rest of the UK media.

The vandals threw paint on two of the paintings, both of which depicted Hindu goddesses. (The Mother India picture which accompanies the original article on MWW was not part of the exhibition, although it did cause quite a bit of controversy in its time)

Sunny Hundal, the campaigning Asian journalist and editor of Pickled Politics, has come up with an interesting idea. Prompted by the closing down of the MF Husain exhibition at Asia House, mentioned below, he writes:

I’m thinking that it may be worthwhile exploring the option of holding a protest (or some sort of action) in favour of Asia House showing MF Husain’s paintings. Sooner or later we will have to take a stand. We cannot let the likes of the Hindu Forum, Muslim Council of Britain, MAC, Sikh Federation etc issue press releases about the “grave insult” that actions of others have caused millions of people, when we know it is one man in his office.

Asians Against Censorship (AACE)? This needs discussion, which is why I’m posting it here. Sooner or later we need a coalition of people, from the Asian community, who are willing to stand up against censorship. Otherwise they will carry on competing with each other in the victimhood stakes.

Go there and watch the birth of a movement.

MWW bids them God-speed.

Pickled Politics reports that the London-based Asia House gallery has been forced by Hindu groups to close down an exhibition by artist MF Husain.

The exhibition included paintings of nude Hindu goddesses, which provoked the ire of the Hindu Human Rights Group and the Hindu Forum of Britain – the group previously known for the upstink they kicked over “sacrilegious” Xmas postage stamps.

PP quotes IBN live:

An official at Asia House, London, said the decision was taken because of threats to the paintings. The move followed demonstrations against the exhibition by several Hindu groups in Britain.
A local advocate Rajkumar Pande had filed a petition on March 3 alleging that an ‘objectionable’ painting had hurt the sentiments of Indians.

Censorship envy strikes again.

UDATE: Sunny reports that two MF Husain paintings were actually destroyed before the gallery closed the exhibition because of threats.

The Quilliam Foundation, a self-described “counter-extremism think-tank”, has issued a statement condemning the government ban on Geert Wilders.
Maajid Nawaz, Director of the Quilliam Foundation, says:

“Banning Geert Wilders from the UK is not the solution. Just as the ideas of non-violent Islamist groups like Hizb ut-Tahrir should be tackled through debate and argument, so should those of Wilders and others. Freedom of speech should be protected – so long as people do not use this freedom to call for violence against others.

Wilders has evidently been convinced by the words and actions of Islamists and jihadists that Islam is inherently violent and intolerant. We therefore challenge him to an open debate in which we will argue that Islam is not an inherently violent religion and that, contrary to what he apparently believes, Muslims are not a threat to Europe and its values.

Ed Husain, the co-Director of the Quilliam Foundation, says:

Geert Wilders is undoubtedly an ill-informed, hate-driven bigot with many unpleasant views but he is not directly inciting violence. As a result, unlike in the case of Yusuf al-Qaradawi, I do not support the decision to ban him from the UK. By threatening parliament with a mob, Lord Ahmed is contributing to the negative portrayal of Muslims and their religion.

You got that right. Lord Ahmed is a clown.

(Hat tip HP)