M F Husain welcomed home, after he is conferred Qatar citizenship

India's most celebrated artist Maqbool Fida Husain (M F Husain), who has been living under self exile, a day after he was conferred Qatar citizenship, the Indian Government on Tuesday said it would be very happy to see the eminent painter returns to India.

Home Minister P. Chidambaram expressed this to news persons in New Delhi and said the government would not allow any threat to him. “There is no danger to him and we will not allow any threat to him,” he said.

Mr. Chidambaram said that Mr. Husain’s family had been informed that full security would be provided to him if the 95-year-old painter decides to come back to the country.

He said there were only a few cases against the painter in lower courts and lawyers can find a way to put an end to those and added that the High Court and Supreme Court had already quashed some cases against Mr. Husain.

Mr. Husain has been living abroad for nearly four years following a spate of legal cases in the country over his depiction of Hindu deities (in the nude form) in his controversial paintings and threat to his life from Hindutva. His house was attacked and art works vandalised by right wing Hindu groups.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) said Mr. Husain was free to live anywhere in the country, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stressed that the artist "did not face danger to his life". But he still faces threats from fringe groups in the Hindu right, apart from the court cases

The most celebrated artist has been conferred Qatar nationality -- something that is very rarely given. Although he did not apply for Qatar nationality, it was conferred upon him at the instance of the modernising emirate’s ruling family.

Since 2006, when the Hindutva hate campaign against him escalated, Mr. Husain has been living in Dubai, spending his summers in London. He travels freely except to India, where he faces legal harassment and physical threats.

His work now is on mostly towards two large projects, the history of Indian civilisation and the history of Arab civilisation. The latter was commissioned by Qatar’s powerful first lady – Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser al Missned, wife of the emirate’s ruler. The works will be housed in a separate museum in Doha.

As Husain makes Qatar his adopted home during his final years, his son said: "He will continue to miss his real home wherever he is. You can take M.F. Husain out of India. But you can't take India out of M.F. Husain."

- Asian Tribune -