The impasse in the Fine Arts Faculty in Vadodara's Maharaja Sayajirao University may finally see light at the end of the tunnel after two months.
Gujarat Governor Nawal Kishore Sharma on Thursday appointed a three-member fact-finding committee to ascertain the truth relating to the incidents leading to the suspension of Acting Dean Dr Shivaji Panikker.
The committee is required to examine and ascertain the issue of alleged obscenity in the art works in question and also the role and conduct of various University officials in handling the situation.
The functioning of the Fine Arts Faculty at the M.S. University, including final examination results and the admission process, had come to a halt since vandalism on its campus by local BJP leader Niraj Jain, who found two works of art by a student to be 'objectionable' and 'obscene'.
The student, Chandramohan was arrested and Panikker was suspended for coming in defence of the student and the art fraternity.
Panikker was also roughed up by Sangh Parivar activists at Ahmedabad last week where he had come to inaugurate an exhibition of paintings on the themes of communal harmony, justice and peace. The Ahmedabad police are yet to make any arrests in the case despite having identified some BJP corporators among the attackers.
The committee, appointed by the Governor in his capacity as the Visitor of the University, would comprise former Union Minister Prof Y.K. Alagh, now Chairman of IRMA, Vice-Chancellor of Gujarat Vidyapith Prof Sudarshan Iyengar and eminent artist and critic Hakubhai Shah.
{{/usCountry}}The committee, appointed by the Governor in his capacity as the Visitor of the University, would comprise former Union Minister Prof Y.K. Alagh, now Chairman of IRMA, Vice-Chancellor of Gujarat Vidyapith Prof Sudarshan Iyengar and eminent artist and critic Hakubhai Shah.
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