M F Hussain - Apologises For Paintings

Controversial ‘Bharatmata’ painting withdrawn..

Under attack from Hindu fundamentalists over his painting allegedly depicting “Bharatmata” in an nude, noted painter M. F. Hussain last night apologised, and the controversial painting to go into auction in an exhibition in Delhi today was withdrawn. In the wake of persistent protests by the Hindu Janjagruti Samiti (HJS) and VHP for displaying the painting on websites, Hussain said he apologised to the people for the same. Sharan Apparao, curator of Apparao Galleries in Delhi where the painting was to go into auction, said she had been receiving numerous calls regarding the painting with people demanding its withdrawal. “There were many calls, mostly from Maharashtra. Some of them were using abusive language which I think is not acceptable. But, basically some of them were saying remove the nude painting. Don’t sell India, why is Mother India being shown nude,” she said. The HJS had filed a case with the Mumbai and Thane police and appealed to President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take action against the “anti-national and perverse attitude of the great artist”. The outfit had held demonstrations against Hussain in Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.