Vandalisation of Hussain's Painting

Date: 
Friday, January 30, 2004

Press Statement

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), now
in session at Hyderabad, has issued the following statement:

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
strongly condemns the ransacking of an exhibition of paintings by
world renowned painter M.F. Hussein by VHP and Bajrang Dal activists
at Surat yesterday. This is not the fist time that Mr. M.F. Hussein
and his work have been targetted by the RSS-led communal outfits.

The cultural policing by the RSS-led organisations are reaching a
feverish pitch in the run-up to the elections. They seek to use these
tactics to sharpen communal polarisation for their electoral benefits.
This time the target was on an exhibition inaugurated on the Republic
Day by artists including prominent artists like Bhupen Khakkar and
Ghulam Sheikh set up in defence of the Indian Republic. With the
Gujarat police, as usual, remaining a silent spectator in such
communal attacks, the VHP-Bajrang Dal brazenly ransacked the exhibition.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
demands immediate action against the perpetrators of this crime. It
also demands that adequate protection be given to M.F. Hussein who is
constantly being subjected to such attacks.