Security will be provided to MF Husain: Government

Describing self-exiled eminent artist MF Husain as the "pride of India", the government today said it is willing to provide security to him and that no case is pending against him in any of the courts in the country.

Responding to questions from the media on Husain being conferred honorary citizenship by Qatar, Union home secretary GK Pillai said, "there is no case against MF Husain. Supreme Court has quashed all the cases against him."
     
The home secretary went on to say that the Government was ready to provide security to the 95-year-old artist, if he planned to return to India.

"He (Husain) is the pride of India," foreign secretary Nirupama Rao said adding, "I would like him to feel safe and secure in India".

Husain has been living abroad for nearly four years following a spate of legal cases in the country over his controversial paintings of Hindu goddesses and a hate campaign against him.
     
Several cases were filed against him by people protesting his portrayal of Hindu goddesses in the nude. His house in India was attacked and art works vandalised by fundamentalists.
     
The Union Government had approached the apex court for the expeditious disposal of cases across the country over his controversial paintings so that his early return could be ensured.
     
The Delhi high court in May 2009 had quashed criminal proceedings against the painter, saying his paintings were an
expression of creativity.