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India Today
9 hours ago
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- India Today
From the India Today archives (2011)
(NOTE: This article was originally published in the India Today issue dated June 20, 2011)"As I begin to paint, hold the sky in your hands; as the stretch of my canvas is unknown to me."—M.F. Husain With the death of Maqbool Fida Husain in a London hospital on the morning of June 9, India has not only lost her most iconic contemporary artist but also perhaps one of the last living symbols of the very idea of her modern, secular and multicultural nationalism. Born in 1915 at the temple town of Pandharpur in Maharashtra, Husain came from a lower middle class Sulemani Muslim family and rose through the ranks to become India's most famous painter of people, places and a visual artist-especially a mid-20th century modernist painter-Husain was precariously perched on the crest of a nascent and evolving national consciousness. In the post-Partition era, when he first burst on the Indian art scene, Husain became a much celebrated symbol patronised by the Nehruvian state looking to create modernist role models. Yet, that very celebrity made him and his works vulnerable to be hijacked, misrepresented and reviled three decades later by a semi-literate cabal claiming to represent the collective voice of a largely silent Hindu majority. In fact, the torrid love affair between Husain and 'modern secular' India and their eventual dismaying disengagement makes for a civilisational sociologist Veena Das remarks, this "impossible love" had an inherent fragility because the idol, the image and the word are all strongly contested entities. It is also further complicated by the illicit intimacy between history and the 'perception of history' in post-colonial imaginations. The tantalising and tragic relationship-between a nation's notion of the self and Husain's visualisation of it in his art practice-became the vexed terrain over which competing political alignments fought their proxy wars for a good two decades before it eventually led to Husain's self-imposed exile from India in 2006. Four years later, he accepted Qatari nationality, spending his time between Dubai, London and Husain was educated in the streets of Indore, a madrassa in Baroda, the Indore School of Arts and very briefly the J.J. School of Arts, Mumbai. He was an immensely talented and intelligent man with an enormous curiosity about the world who learnt effortlessly from life and people. He arrived in what was then Bombay in the early 1930s, penniless but bursting with enthusiasm and energy, traits that he retained all through his first started out by walking the streets of Bombay offering to paint portraits of people who could afford to pay him Rs 25. There were not too many commissions but some of these early portraits still survive. In 2008 in London, I saw a portrait Husain had done of Lord Ghulam Noon's elder brother in a Bhendi Bazaar sweet shop. Soon, he moved to painting cinema hoardings, first for V. Shantaram's Prabhat Studios and later for New perched high on bamboo scaffolding, Husain learnt to be able to concentrate amid the noise and chaos of the street below. He used to paint 40 foot hoardings for four annas a foot under the blazing sun in Mumbai for many years. From painting hoardings, he progressed to designing toys and painting children's furniture for Rs 300 a month. "But even at that time I knew I would be an artist one day," he used to say, adding, "there was a time when I painted furniture by day and my own art by night. I painted non-stop." Cinema held a life-long fascination for Husain and decades later, he went on to make several much-talked about films. Of these Through the Eyes of a Painter (1967) won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival but the most well-known is Gaja Gamini (2000) that featured Madhuri Dixit as his muse. In 2004 he made the semi-autobiographical Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities with Tabu in the lead role which ran into trouble with Muslim life started to change radically around the time of Independence. Francis Newton Souza (1924-2002), the prodigious enfant terrible of Indian art, spotted Husain's talent by chance and immediately included him in his Progressive Artists Group (PAG) in 1947. Husain's work was noticed right from that first showing and with the encouragement of Rudi von Leyden, the German Jewish art critic, he held his first one-man show in Mumbai in 1950. With prices ranging from Rs 50 to Rs 300, the exhibition sold out. As Husain told me with a chuckle, "I was a best seller right from start."advertisementWhat differentiates Husain from his Progressive contemporaries is his deeply rooted 'Indianness' and his celebration of Indian life and people. While his contemporaries were busily assimilating European art from Byzantium downwards, Husain sought inspiration in temple sculptures (Mathura and Khajuraho), Pahari miniature paintings and Indian folk the mid-1950s Husain got national recognition with two very seminal canvases 'Zameen' and 'Between the Spider and the Lamp'. 'Zameen' was inspired by Bimal Roy's Do Bigha Zameen (1955) but instead of bemoaning rural poverty and indebtedness, it presents a symbolic celebration of life in rural India with a vibrancy that had never been seen before. "I realised one did not have to paint like Europeans to be modern," he maintained. Nor did he, at any time, understand the angst of existentialism."Alienation as a concept is alien to my nature," he would joke. The next year he painted the more enigmatic 'Between the Spider and the Lamp'. This painting, considered by cognoscenti to be his best of all time, features five women reminiscent of ancient Indian sculpture with an oil lamp hanging from the top of canvas and some unintelligible words in a script that looks like ancient Brahmi, Magadhi or some long forgotten dialect. From the hand of one woman, painted as if frozen in a mudra, hangs a large spider by its thread. Some critics have suggested the women were the pancha kanyas (Ahalya, Kunti, Draupadi, Tara, Mandodari) of Hindu mythology. When this painting was shown, despite the ripples it created, no one came forth to buy it for Rs 800. It now hangs at the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, on loan from the Husain became a living icon of Hindu-Muslim, gangajamni culture, his art acquired a quintessentially Indian form and content while being global in its relevance and appeal. Moreover, Husain invariably brought relevance to his paintings by making them topical. He was ever ready with the 'image of the day' whether it entailed painting the 'Man on the Moon' in 1969 or Indira Gandhi as Durga after the Bangladesh war in modern Indian art gained wider acceptance through the 1970s and 1980s, Husain was steadily scaling up his prices and using the media to create hype around his colourful persona and his escapades. "Life without drama is too drab," he used to say. Detractors screamed commercialisation and friends frowned in exasperation; but Husain insisted that "the fiscal worth of a painting is in the eyes of the buyer". And buyers came in Badri Vishal Pitti, the Hyderabad businessman for whom he painted 150 paintings, to Chester Herwitz, a handbag tycoon from Boston, who bought up anything that Husain produced through the 1970s. Two decades later, Kolkata industrialist G.S. Srivastava struck a deal for 124 Husain paintings for Rs 100 crore; not for love of art but as good investment. Indian art was appreciating at a higher rate than most stocks and brand Husain was now Husain Inc. After his emigration from India, Sheikha Mozah of Qatar was his last great all his fame and wealth, Husain was personally untouched by both. He could be as comfortable in a dhaba as in a five-star hotel relishing an expensive meal. He stopped wearing footwear as a tribute to the Hindi poet Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh in 1974 and he used to walk barefoot into the most exclusive and august gatherings as well as clubs the world epic saga is ever perfect. And Husain had more than his share of controversies and brickbats. However, it is in posterity that Husain's art and persona will get a truer reckoning. Perhaps the best tribute the Indian state could give would be to set up a museum devoted to the life and art of this most talented son of the to India Today Magazine
Express Tribune
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
India's water war: time for justice, not aggression
The writer is a public policy analyst based in Lahore. She can be reached at durdananajam1@ Listen to article India's recent hybrid war against Pakistan began not with tanks or missiles, but with a chilling threat - shut off the water. In the wake of the deadly attack on Indian tourists in Pahalgam, New Delhi's first line of action was not investigation or diplomacy — it was retribution through water. India has since held the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in abeyance, in a unilateral and illegal move that poses a grave threat to regional stability and an existential danger to Pakistan. This isn't merely a technical dispute over hydro projects. This is a hostile act, tantamount to economic terrorism and, by many standards, an act of war. India is weaponising water to pressure Pakistan, jeopardising the lives of millions who depend on the Indus River system for drinking, farming and economic survival. The IWT, signed in 1960 between India and Pakistan with the World Bank acting as a guarantor, has long been regarded as one of the most successful water-sharing agreements in the world. Its origins lie in the tense post-Partition period, when the 1948 stoppage of canal waters by India exposed the urgent need for a formal and equitable framework for water distribution. In response to this crisis, and with the mediation of the World Bank, both countries negotiated and agreed upon the IWT — a landmark agreement that provided a durable and structured mechanism for cooperation over the vital Indus River system. For over six decades, the treaty withstood the test of time — even surviving full-scale wars between the two countries. Pakistan honoured its obligations under the treaty. However, in recent years, New Delhi has increasingly pushed the envelope, building dams and hydroelectric projects on the western rivers in ways that violate both the spirit and letter of the IWT. The construction of projects like Kishanganga and Ratle has led to legal disputes brought by Pakistan before international arbitration forums. The World Bank had suspended its role as arbitrator in 2016 under Indian pressure but was compelled to resume proceedings following international criticism. In 2023, a Hague-based court ruled in favour of Pakistan, dismissing Indian objections to arbitration. India, in defiance, has still not complied. The most dangerous escalation came when India threatened to unilaterally exit the treaty or render it inactive by putting it "in abeyance" — a term not recognised in international treaty law. This undermines the credibility of international agreements and creates dangerous precedents for future conflicts. From a legal standpoint, India's unilateral action violates several international norms and principles. First, the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969) clearly states that a party cannot suspend or terminate a treaty unilaterally unless it is explicitly provided for within the treaty, which is not the case here. Second, India's refusal to adhere to dispute resolution mechanisms such as arbitration — despite treaty provisions — violates not only the IWT but also broader principles of international law. By holding the treaty in abeyance, India is attempting to unilaterally rewrite a binding international agreement. Third, this act of water aggression could be interpreted as a violation of the UN Watercourses Convention and customary international law, which emphasise equitable and reasonable utilisation of transboundary watercourses and the obligation not to cause significant harm. India's attempt to weaponise water is tantamount to economic terrorism. It undermines trust, violates international obligations and endangers the lives of over 240 million people in Pakistan. Furthermore, India's actions set a dangerous precedent in international relations. If a country can unilaterally suspend a longstanding water-sharing agreement simply due to political hostility, what prevents others from doing the same? This undermines the very foundation of rule-based international order. Water treaties across the world — from the Nile to the Mekong — could become tools of coercion rather than cooperation. Despite this aggression, Pakistan has not responded with equal hostility. Islamabad continues to advocate for peace and dialogue, but it is clear that this approach must now be accompanied by a robust diplomatic and legal offensive. The World Bank, as the original broker of the treaty, must be called upon to enforce compliance. The international community, particularly the United Nations and major water rights organisations, must step forward and treat India's act for what it is - a deliberate violation of a legally binding international treaty with potentially catastrophic humanitarian consequences. Yet, while holding India accountable, Pakistan must also introspect. The looming water crisis is not solely caused by external aggression. Pakistan loses billions of cubic metres of water annually due to poor irrigation infrastructure, mismanagement and lack of public awareness. Urban centres waste water, while rural irrigation channels leak and erode. Climate change is reducing snowmelt from the Himalayas, and monsoon patterns are becoming erratic. These are internal challenges that must be addressed immediately. It is high time Pakistan launched a national water resilience strategy. This must include the construction of new reservoirs and dams to store excess rainwater, the adoption of modern irrigation techniques like drip and sprinkler systems and the repair of outdated canal infrastructure to reduce leakage. Water recycling and greywater usage in urban areas must be prioritised. Public awareness campaigns on water conservation should be rolled out nationwide. Schools, mosques and media must be mobilised to make water conservation a national habit. Investment in research on climate-resilient crops and water-efficient farming must be accelerated. Pakistan has acted responsibly, even in the face of repeated provocations. But responsibility should not be mistaken for weakness. India's illegal move to suspend the treaty is a challenge not just to Pakistan's sovereignty, but to the world's shared commitment to peace and cooperation in managing vital natural resources. Water is not a weapon — it is a lifeline. And if one of the world's most celebrated water-sharing treaties can be threatened by nationalism and political vengeance, then the global community must act before it becomes a flood too powerful to stop.
Scroll.in
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Scroll.in
What the removal of actress Suchitra Sen's name from a dormitory says about new Bangladesh dynamics
On the morning of May 21, workers at Government Edward College in Bangladesh's Pabna city unscrewed a plaque bearing the name Suchitra Sen – a daughter of the soil, a cinematic legend and a bridge between two nations. They replaced it with a sign declaring 'July 36 Student Dormitory'. Principal Mohammed Abdul Awal Miah told The Daily Star that the decision to rechristen the Suchitra Sen Mohila Hall was made in keeping with student demands and the 'spirit of the July uprising'. He was referring to the July 2024 protests that ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina after 15 years in power. The uprising lasted 36 days – all of July and five days of August. This was another example of the anti-India sentiment that has bubbled in Bangladesh as a result of New Delhi's support for Hasina's authoritarian regime and its perceived hostility towards the country's interim government. But for many of Pabna's residents, the renaming is not merely bureaucratic – it is a symbolic severing of a shared heritage, a small act of violence against collective memory. The action symbolised how nations weaponise history to forge monolithic identities, erasing messy, pluralistic truths that defy nationalist myth-making. She was and will always be an epitome of beauty. She is the diva and the ultimate example of eternal angel. Her smile, her stare and her attitude can still make anyone fall for her. Mrs Sen will always be there with us . Remembering Suchitra aunty on her death anniversary. — Prosenjit Chatterjee (@prosenjitbumba) January 17, 2019 The story of Suchitra Sen – born Roma Dasgupta in 1931 in Bhanga Bari village, Pabna – is a palimpsest of South Asia's fractured past. Her family fled to Kolkata during Partition. Today, her ancestral home in Pabna's Gopalpur Himsagor Lane, with crumbling walls and a statue, stands as a testament to institutional neglect. Sen embodied the contradictions of post-Partition South Asia: a refugee turned icon, a Hindu star in Muslim-majority Bangladesh. Her journey from Pabna to Kolkata mirrors the trauma of displacement that shaped millions. Yet, her films – 60 in total, 30 with Uttam Kumar – became emotional lifelines for a divided people. In Saat Paake Bandha (1963), her character's anguish over societal hypocrisy resonated with audiences on both sides of the border. At the climax of the film, when she tears her husband's vest, it was not just fabric that split – it was the illusion of unity in a fractured subcontinent. The irony of erasure Principal Awal's claim that 'no educational institutions in Bangladesh are named after actors' rings hollow, given that the hall bore Sen's name for decades as a point of local pride. Noresh Chandra Modhu, secretary of the Suchitra Sen Smriti Sangrakkhan Parishad, told The Daily Star that the move reflects a broader trend of sidelining pluralistic history. 'Suchitra Sen was not a political symbol,' he said. 'She was our symbol.' Today, her ancestral home lies in disrepair. The contrast is stark: a government that invests in renaming halls but neglects heritage sites embodies what scholar Pierre Nora termed lieux de mémoire – spaces where collective memory clashes with institutional amnesia. This sort of cultural erasure is rarely accidental. It is a governance strategy. Since the July 2024 uprising, Bangladesh's interim government has been accused of pushing revisionist narratives. Even as it highlights the authoritarian tendencies of deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, it is attempting to rewrite the history of the 1971 Liberation War in which her father played a significant role, encouraged by India and its army. The interim government seems to be hoping these performative acts will appease Islamist groups and divert attention from systemic failures – underfunded education, crumbling infrastructure. The Government Edward College in Pabna has removed the name of film actress Suchitra Sen from a residential hall, sparking widespread criticism. #Bangladesh — The Daily Star (@dailystarnews) May 21, 2025 By erasing Sen, the establishment is attempting to reshape collective memory to fit a homogenised, Muslim identity. As political theorist Benedict Anderson noted, nations are 'imagined communities'. But imagination is not passive. It is actively curated by power structures to align with ideological goals. Some elements are foregrounded, while others are obliterated. Cultural erasure, like censorship, is a confession of fear. A state that dismantles monuments to shared heritage fears the power of pluralism. For Pabna's residents, the loss is visceral. Local journalist ABM Fazlur Rahman told The Daily Star, 'The people of Pabna bear her name in their hearts even though it has been erased from an institution.' Voices such as these underscore a truth: cultural memory resides not in plaques but in the minds of people. Sen's legacy lives in the hum of 'Ei Raat Tomar Amar' from Harano Sur, in the faded posters in her ancestral home and in the quiet defiance of those who refuse to forget.
Hindustan Times
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Chandigarh: Bansal slams Chouhan for remarks on Indus Waters Treaty
Former union minister Pawan Kumar Bansal has criticised Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for his statements that former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had done injustice to India by signing the Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan. In a statement, Bansal said, 'This only betrays his utter ignorance of historical facts.' Bansal, who previously held the Union water resources portfolio, said that suspending the treaty in the wake of the Pahalgam terrorist attack is an entirely different matter from the context in which it was signed in 1960. He explained that post-Partition, the canal system built by the British primarily lay in Pakistan, while India controlled the headworks. A temporary agreement in 1947 was followed by India withholding water in 1948, but limited storage capacity and flood risks required a long-term resolution. 'Internationally, the upper riparian states do not have any complete and absolute right over international river waters. The treaty was signed with Pakistan under World Bank mediation to ensure optimal utilisation of the Indus basin,' he said. 'While India has complete control over the water of Eastern rivers Ravi, Beas and Satluj, we also have non-consumptive rights over the water of western rivers Indus, Chenab, and Jhelum for hydro-power generation, navigation and fishing purposes,' Bansal added. He stated that Salal, Baglihar and Kishanganga Dams as examples of projects executed before 2014. Bansal added that while Nehru built projects like Bhakra Dam, surplus water still flows to Pakistan due to inadequate storage. He also criticised the Modi government for failing to curb China's dam construction on the Brahmaputra, calling it a serious concern for India.
India.com
12-05-2025
- Politics
- India.com
India-Pakistan Tensions Fallout: Protesters Target Hyderabad's Karachi Bakery, Demand Name Change
India-Pakistan Tensions: Karachi Bakery in Hyderabad was reportedly targeted by a group of protesters amid rising India-Pakistan tensions during Operation Sindoor. On Sunday, around 10–15 individuals gathered outside the 73-year-old bakery and shouted anti-Pakistan slogans following backlash over its name. As per the Indian Express report, videos circulating on social media showed a group of individuals wearing saffron scarves entering a Karachi Bakery outlet, demanding a change in its name. The protestors, seen holding the national flag, gathered outside the Shamshabad branch and reportedly attempted to damage the nameboard using sticks. However, no significant harm was caused to the property or the staff. The vandalism of Karachi Bakery in Hyderabad by miscreants is a deplorable act of ignorance and incivility. The bakery, owned by the Khanchand Ramnani family, Sindhi Hindus who migrated to India post-Partition in 1947, is a symbol of resilience and heritage unjustly targeted. — Āryā_Anvikṣā (@Arya_Anviksha_) May 11, 2025 In the viral videos, police were seen present as protesters continued to target the bakery's signboard. Officials later confirmed that the crowd was dispersed shortly after the incident. The owners of Karachi Bakery, Rajesh and Harish Ramnani, stated that the brand is a '100 per cent Indian brand,' established in 1953 by their grandfather Khanchand Ramnani after he migrated to India during the Partition. 'We request the Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and senior officers of administration to support to prevent any change in the name. People are putting up tricolour in the outlets of the bakery across the city. Kindly support us as we are an Indian brand and not a Pakistani brand.' The bakery chain had previously come under fire in 2019 following the Pulwama terror attack, which killed 40 CRPF personnel. At the time, protesters had entered its Indiranagar outlet in Bengaluru, calling for a change in the bakery's name.
