Maqbool Fida Husain is no more. He breathed his last on 9 June 2011, exiled from his homeland, in London.
Dragged into controversy by the Hindutva forces in the latter part of his life, he remained, in uncontroversial terms, modern India’s foremost artist, renowned across the world.
Born in 1915, Husain, till the end of his years, retained the energy and enthusiasm of youth. Indira Gandhi’s assassination, Safdar Hashmi’s assassination, Sachin Tendulkar’s rise, personalities like Faiz or Mother Teresa, most recently, the anti-corruption movement – his paintings had the rare ability to comment on a range of contemporary social and political themes. His support for the Emergency, and his painting of Indira Gandhi as the goddess Durga surprised many. But as his friend and fellow artist Krishen Khanna said, “I differed with him on the question of Emergency… but whether you liked him or differed with him, Husain was central to the whole business of modern Indian art.”
Husain was among the first generation of post-Independence Indian artists to make a break with the nationalist or revivalist artistic trends of the past. Along with Souza, Raza, Ara, Gaitonde and Bakre, he too was part of the Progressive Artists’ Group formed in 1947, which was central in shaping the post-Independence artistic milieu.
With a distinctly modern idiom and sensibility, Husain retained deep links with India’s artistic traditions. But he was never parochial in the name of India or Indianness. As an artist, the whole world was his canvas. He is one of the few painters to have depicted Indian epics and myths in a modern context.
The attack by the saffron mobs on him was entirely political. His Muslim origin was the sole reason for being targeted by the Sangh Parivar. Scores of cases were slapped on him in an attempt to victimize and harass him. One Hardwar court ordered his property to be confiscated and another in Indore issued a non-bailable warrant. The Supreme Court later, in a welcome judgement, put an end to the legal harassment. In India and even once in London, his exhibitions were cancelled because of attacks by Hindutva mobs.
After his death, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared it to be a “national loss.” But it was the UPA Government’s former Home Minister Shivraj Patil who had, in 2006, instructed the police in Delhi and Mumbai to take action against Husain on the grounds that his paintings could spark off communal trouble! The ‘secular’ Congress-UPA government at the Centre thus pandered to the communal fascists – and this is what eventually forced Husain into exile, and he took the Qatari nationality offered to him.
Husain’s story reminds us of the shadow of communal fascism that hovers over India’s democracy. Husain’s paintings never commented on these forces; he just quietly continued to paint in freedom.
In his final interview, Husain expressed the wish to spend his last days in his own country – a last wish that could not be fulfilled. This is a matter of shame and anguish for all those in India who love art and who care for freedom.
Liberation expresses heartfelt farewell to this great Indian artist!
