The Times of India
MF Hussain's sand sculptor vandalized
Shashank Tripathi Jun 12, 2011, 12.00am IST
At a time when the world is mourning the loss of 'India's Picasso', M F Hussain, and talking about his great contributions to the field of art, an act of indignity by some miscreants at Allahabad, where they vandalised an 8 Ft long Hussain's sand sculpture which was being made by a known local artist, has hurt the sentiments of everyone.
Raj Kapoor Chitera, the artist in question, who shot to fame by making a 1500 ft painting of Sachin Tendulkar and many other sand sculptors of various personalities of the country earlier, was paying tribute to Hussain by making his sculptor when he was attacked by some unidentified people.
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"I was working very hard to make the 8 ft tall sand sculpture of Hussain sahab since yesterday near Sangam. I had even completed 50 percent of the work yesterday and went there today morning to complete the remaining work," he says and adds, "But while I was completing the sculpture at around 8.30 AM in the morning, a couple of local netas came and said 'Itni pavitra jagah par itne gande aadmi ki photo bana raha hai, agar iski photo banani hai to Mecca-Madina me jaake banao. (You are making the sculpture of such a bad man who had no regard for our dieties, in such a pious place. If you have to make his potrait then go to Mecca-Madina.) They later destroyed the sculpture and threatened me of dire consequences, if I made another attempt to make it," the scared artist revealed.
This is first of its kind incident in the Sangam city, which is known around the world for its Ganga-Yamuni sanskriti and as a place where people of all religion have always lived in harmony.
Hussain was in the middle of controversies since the early 90s for hurting hindu sentiments by making nude portraits of Hindu gods and goddesses. In 1998, Hussain was even attacked by a few Hindu groups including Bajrang Dal and many of his art works were vandalised. He finally left this country in 2006 and eventually accepted the citizenship of Qatar later.
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