India court orders seizure of 'offensive' MF Husain paintings

A court in India's capital, Delhi, has ordered the seizure of two "offensive" paintings by renowned Indian artist M.F. Husain. This comes after complaints that the paintings, which depict Hindu deities and were displayed in an art gallery, "hurt religious sentiments."

The court approved the police seizure of the artworks on Monday. The Delhi Art Gallery (DAG), which hosted the exhibition, has denied any wrongdoing, stating that a "detailed" police investigation found "no cognizable offense" by the gallery. The exhibition, titled "Husain: Eternal Modernist," ran from October 26 to December 14 at DAG and featured over 100 paintings.

The complainant, lawyer Amita Sachdeva, stated on social media platform X that she photographed the "offensive paintings" on display at DAG on December 4 and filed a police complaint five days later after researching previous complaints against the late artist. On December 10, Ms. Sachdeva reported that she went to the gallery with investigators, only to find the paintings had been removed. She claimed that gallery officials asserted they had never exhibited the paintings.

The paintings shared online by Ms. Sachdeva depict the Hindu deities Ganesha and Hanuman, along with nude female figures. She also claimed that Delhi police failed to register a case. According to media reports, she later petitioned the court to preserve the gallery's CCTV footage from the period the paintings were on display. On Monday, a judge at Delhi's Patiala House court stated that police had retrieved the footage and submitted a report. The judge added that, according to the investigation, the exhibition was held in a private space and was solely intended to showcase the artist's original works.

DAG stated in a statement that they have been assisting the police with their investigation. They said that the exhibition attracted around 5,000 visitors and received "positive reviews from the media and the public." The gallery stated that the complainant was the only person to object to any of the artworks on display. "The complainant herself has displayed and promoted images of these paintings on social media and television news media, deliberately exposing them to a wider audience while claiming that the images hurt her individual religious sentiments."

Maqbool Fida Husain, considered one of India’s greatest painters and dubbed the "Picasso of India," often sparked controversy with his art in the country. His works have sold for millions of dollars. His career was filled with controversy, as he was accused of obscenity and condemned by hardline Hindus for a painting of a nude goddess. In 2006, Husain publicly apologized for his painting "Bharat Mata," which depicted a nude woman kneeling and forming the shape of the Indian map. He left the country the same year and lived in self-imposed exile in London until his death.

In 2008, India’s Supreme Court refused to initiate criminal proceedings against Husain, stating that his paintings were not obscene and that nudity was common in Indian iconography and history. At the time, the court dismissed an appeal against a High Court ruling that quashed criminal cases against Husain in cities like Bhopal, Indore, and Rajkot, and it decried the rise of "neo-puritanism" in India. The court also rejected calls to summon the then-exiled Husain and demand an explanation for his paintings, which were accused of offending religious sentiments and disrupting national unity.

"There are so many such subjects, photographs, and publications. Are you going to file cases against all of them? What about temple architecture? Husain's work is art. If you don't want to see it, don't see it. There are many such art forms in temple architecture," the Supreme Court said. Many believe that illiberalism is rising in India regarding artistic expression. In October, the Mumbai High Court reprimanded customs officials for seizing artworks by renowned artists F.N. Souza and Akbar Padamsee on the grounds of being "obscene material." The court ruled that not all paintings depicting nudity or suggestive themes are obscene and ordered the release of the seven seized artworks.