In order to emphasize “disenchantment”, Bilgrami chose the case of MF Husain who was embroiled in a long drawn controversy for his nude paintings of Goddess Saraswati and Bharat Mata and had several cases filed against him.
Aditi Raja | October 1, 2020 | The Indian Express
Philosopher Akeel Bilgrami, in an online lecture on Wednesday, highlighted the outrage against late painter MF Husain to drive home the “generalisations” about communities as the base for the ongoing conflicts in societies across the world. Bilgrami spoke of “identity politics” as being specific to religion and the need for Hindus and Muslims to find “truth and reconciliation”. Titled ‘Modernity and Disenchantment’, the lecture was organised by the Department of Political Science of MS University in Vadodara.
In order to emphasize “disenchantment”, Bilgrami chose the case of MF Husain who was embroiled in a long drawn controversy for his nude paintings of Goddess Saraswati and Bharat Mata and had several cases filed against him. Bilgrami spoke of the Delhi High Court judgement which quashed the warrants of arrest against Husain and the subsequent Supreme Court verdict upholding the Delhi HC order.
Bilgrami said, “Both the HC and the SC cleared him of the charges under IPC section 298 (Hurting religious sentiments) because one has to establish the intent for the same. The court absolved him… and they could not establish any guilt.”
Originally published in The Indian Times. Read the full article here.