‘Modi critics’ removed from Rajasthan body

India-born British sculptor Anish Kapoor, who compared the Modi government to the Taliban, was among the list of half-a-dozen prominent personalities from different walks of life who were unceremoniously dropped from the governing body of the Jawahar Kala Kendra, a government centre for cultural activities, barely three days after their nomination. The “corrective” step was taken following a protest within the ruling party about the inclusion of Modi-bashers in the governing body of a cultural body controlled by the government.

Mr Kapoor, writing in the Guardian newspaper, argued that the current government’s “militant Hinduism” was risking the marginalisation of minorities and harming the country’s pluralistic nature. He wrote that Mr Modi was not a man who takes kindly to scrutiny or criticism.

Apart from Mr Kapoor, there were at least five others who had been at the forefront of the campaign against growing “intolerance” in the country, including Booker Prize winner Jeet Thayil, who had returned his Sangeet Natak Akademi award in protest against “intolerance” but refused to return the prize money saying the Modi government did not deserve it. Homi K. Bhabha was part of the plea by people of Indian origin to President Pranab Mukherjee expressing concern over intolerance in the country. Poet Ranjit Hoskote and Padma Vibhushan awardee Vidya Dahejia of Columbia University too have been critical of the Modi government. Infosys founder Narayana Murthy had also spoken about fear among minorities but his son Rohan Murty was included in the governing body by the Raje government.

Minister for art and culture Krishnendra Kaur Deepa removed all of them late Wednesday night after consulting the CM as the matter threatened to snowball into a major controversy. What also hastened the decision was the reaction of Ms Raje’s rivals within the party — former ministers Ghanshyam Tiwari and Narpat Singh Rajvi — who not only questioned the decision but asked for an explanation as to how Modi opponents were included without checking their background.

To avoid further controversy, the state government dissolved the entire governing body, removing four members of the executive and all 12 members of the governing body. What helped the state government was the controversy regarding the non-inclusion of even a single artist from the state in the governing body.