Consistency is antidote to India’s enemies of reason

Two different stories with a common India link were in the spotlight recently. One is related to Bangladeshi novelist Taslima Nasreen, who lives in exile partly in France but mostly in India. The other involves Maqbool Fida Husain, who until recently was arguably India’s most celebrated and richest painter.Nasreen wants to be an Indian citizen, as she is perhaps the most hated person in Bangladesh due to her liberal views and moderate interpretation of Islam.


Husain, on the other hand, is in self-imposed exile from India over the last few years, shuttling between London, Riyadh and Dubai. Last week, his son Owais Husain said that his father had accepted Qatar’s offer of honorary citizenship.

The 95-year-old Husain, whose family members otherwise lead a very comfortable life in India, left the country when right-wing Hindu fringe groups confronted him over controversial paintings of Hindu gods and goddesses. Several legal cases have also been filed against him.

Full report here UPI