The Baroda art controversy is back in the news — but for a different reason this time.
The committee set up by the Gujarat Governor to probe the controversy over the display of the “obscene” painting at MS University in Vadodara has recommended that the student who sketched the work be readmitted, and it accused university officials of dereliction of duty.
And not only that.
The committee wants the suspension of Shivaji Panikkar, Dean, Faculty of Fine Arts at the university, be revoked and student Chandramohan be judged for his works that were part of an examination. [Link]
The three-member panel also blamed the university administration for not maintaining law and order on the campus after Vishwa Hindu Parishad Activists (VHP) attacked students on May 9, 2007. It specifically said that the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Pro-Vice Chancellor, and the Registrar failed to stop VHP activists.
Governor Nawal Kishore Sharma set up the committee comprising YK Alagh, chief of Institute of Rural Management in Anand (IRMA), Sudarshan Iyengar, Vice-Chancellor of Gujarat Vidhyapeeth, and painter Haku Shah in his capacity as the chancellor of MS University.
On May 9, local VHP activists barged into the faculty of fine arts at the Maharaja Sayajirao University. They got post-graduate student Chandramohan arrested for painting Hindu deities showing anatomical details that they found “objectionable” and “obscene”. Soon after his release on bail, Chandramohan left for his home in Andhra Pradesh. He did not return to Vadodara. Panikker has remained in suspension since then.
