M F Hussain and India

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/05/08/arts/AS-A-E-CEL-In dia-People-MF-Husain.php

Report: Famous artist M.F. Husain says he may return home to India despite threats
The Associated PressPublished: May 8, 2007

MUMBAI, India: M.F. Husain, one of India’s most famous artists, says he would like to return home despite threats to his life from Hindu hard-liners for a nude painting of a woman shaped like India’s map.

Husain, who has been living in Dubai for the past two years, faces a legal battle back home with police working to seize his property for defying a court order to appear in person.

Husain told the DNA newspaper he would like to consult his attorneys before making a decision on returning to Mumbai.

"God alone knows what is happening," Husain told the newspaper in an interview published Tuesday. "The truth is that I’m missing my country. I’ll accept whatever the law decides."

A court in the northern Indian town of Hardwar ordered police to seize his property in March after he and his attorneys failed to appear in response to a complaint filed by Arvind Shrivastava, a lawyer and member of the hard-line group Hindu Jagran Manch, or Hindu Awakening Forum.

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His lawyer Akhil Sibal said Hussain didn’t receive a court summons and he was not aware of the case.

Sibal told The Associated Press several Hindu groups have threatened to maim and kill the artist if he returns to India.

Husain’s painting shows a nude woman on her knees, creating the shape of India’s geographic borders. It caused an outcry among hard-line Hindu groups that said associating India with nudity was disrespectful. Several legal cases were brought against him.

While Husain’s works have fetched millions of U.S. dollars (euros) in recent art sales, his home and exhibitions have come under attack from right-wing groups objecting to his nude depiction of Hindu gods.

"Our religious sentiments have been hurt" by Husain’s work, Shrivastava said. He said he filed the case after seeing Husain’s painting on the Internet.