Citizen Husain, come back, says India

After Qatar offers citizenship to Indian painter MF Husain, who has been living in Dubai in self-imposed exile for the last five years following threats to his life, even RSS, which had objected to his nude paintings, wants him back.

After Qatar offers citizenship to Indian painter MF Hussin, who has been living in Dubai in self-imposed exile for the last five years following threats to his life, even RSS, which had objected to his nude paintings, wants him back.

HT Image

Hindu groups said they had no objections to painter MF Husain returning to India even as the government said it would provide adequate security if he did.

Home Secretary GK Pillai, who made this commitment on Thursday, was reacting to media reports that the artist had been offered citizenship of Qatar, an Arab state in West Asia.

Husain (95) had angered Hindu groups by painting nude images of Goddess Durga and Goddess Saraswati. He has been living in Dubai in self-imposed exile for the last five years, following threats to his life.

In Kerala, RSS chief Mohan Bhagawat said, “We will neither oppose nor welcome his return. But it is always good to respect other’s sentiments.”

The BJP also sounded conciliatory. “Every citizen has the right to stay anywhere in the country. We don’t want to deprive him of that right,” said SS Ahluwalia, deputy leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha.

But Husain’s family remains concerned. “Though we really want him to return, he’s not safe here,” Salamat Husain, the painter’s grandson, told HT.

The Congress, expectedly, stood by the painter. “As an Indian, I am very sad he has to even think about adopting an alternative nationality,” Congress spokesman Manish Tiwari said.