Brush Strokes in Chains: Tribute to Maqbool Fida Husain

AISA says adieu to one of the greatest modern painters in the world, Maqbool Fida Husain (17 Sep 1915—9 June 2011). Husain’s painting achieved a distinctive style that combined deep roots in Indian tradition with modern artistic expression. Hussein was born in Pandharpur of Maharashtra. In his initial days he used to paint cinema hoardings in Mumbai. He joined the leftist Progressive Artists’ Group in 1947. His film Through a Painters Eye (1967) won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. He was nominated for Rajya Sabha In 1986 and awarded Padma Vibushan in 1991.

Husain has made Indian art stand tall in the world. Yet, it is a matter of enduring shame and sorrow that Husain met with the most vicious communal attacks and persecution in the very country which he loved and to which he brought such credit. Hindu fundamentalist groups like Bajrang Dal and VHP vandalised his painting exhibitions, harassed him by slapping multiple obscenity cases against him (cases that were decisively dismissed and held to be harassment by the Courts) and issued death threats against him. Husain was singled out for this persecution because he was Muslim – his love for his land and his right to paint on subjects of Indian tradition was questioned because of his religious identity. More shameful was the fact that the ‘secular’ Government of India did little to protect the rights of this Indian citizen and great artist, thereby forcing Husain into exile in his last days.

Bahadur Shah Zafar’s poetry expressed the deep sorrow of enforced separation from his beloved land – an exile ordained by the colonial rulers. Husain, like Bahadur Shah Zafar, took his last breath without being able to return home – an agony inflicted by the Sanghi terrorists and left unchallenged by the Congress Government. His beloved country failed to protect his artistic freedom and his rights.

Adieu to Husain, the greatest ambassador of Indian Modern Art!