As people from South Asia and its rich traditions of artistic, social, religious and political expression, we condemn the forced closure of the exhibition of works by renowned Indian artist MF Husain at Asia House in London, following harassment by groups claiming to represent Hindus (Letters, May 26).

Groups such as Hindu Human Rights and the Hindu Forum of Britain are wielding the same tactics used by organisations in India.

These groups are known for repeatedly attacking the works of artists and intellectuals, undermining India's constitutional right to freedom of thought and expression.

The Hindu Forum of Britain and Hindu Human Rights accuse Asia House of not "consulting" with them before putting on the exhibition. Consultation should not be a requirement for artistic expression.

These are unelected groups, not known for consulting democratically with the community before putting pressure on others in the name of Hinduism. Their actions would not be sanctioned by most Hindus. Hindu traditions have an extensive history of diverse representations of deities, include nude and erotic images of gods and goddesses.

Hinduism has never possessed a concept of censorship of the kind that these authoritarian groups wish to promote. We urge Asia House to reopen this exhibition - by doing so it will honour the rich and diverse traditions of expression arising from Hinduism and from India.

Published in the Guardian, by Awaaz South Asia Watch.


Signatories
Dr Chetan Bhatt, Goldsmiths College, University of London
Professor Rajeswari Sunderrajan, University of Oxford
Dr Priyamvada Gopal, University of Cambridge
Professor David Hardiman, University of Warwick
Dr Eivind Kahrs, University of Cambridge
Dr Sudeshna Guha, University of Cambridge
Dr Manali Desai, University of Reading
Dr Francesca Orsini, University of Cambridge
Dr Rashmi Varma, University of Warwick
Dr Amrita Dhillon, University of Warwick
Professor Benita Parry, University of Warwick
Dr Suman Gupta, Ferguson Centre for African and Asian Studies, Open University
Dr John Smith, University of Cambridge
Dr Subir Sinha, SOAS, University of London
Dr Subha Mukherji, University of Cambridge
Dr Pablo Mukherjee, University of Warwick
Dr Ananya Kabir, University of Leeds
Baidik Bhattacharya, University of Oxford
Stuti Khanna, University of Oxford
Dr Uttara Natarajan, Goldsmiths College, University of London
Dr Dwijen Rangnekar, University of Warwick
Nikita Sud, University of Oxford
Dev Saif Gangjee, London School of Economics
Dr Kaveri Gill, University of Cambridge
Manmay Zafar, University of Oxford
Michael Collins, University of Oxford
Nazneed Ahmad, University of Oxford
Dr Janet Wilson, University of Northampton
Weimin Tang, University of Oxford
Aishwary Kumar, University of Cambridge
Srijana Das, University of Cambridge
Srila Roy, University of Warwick
Professor Shirin Rai, University of Warwick
Dr Susan Daruvala, University of Cambridge
Dr Alison Donnell, Nottingham Trent University
Dr Parita Mukta, University of Warwick
Dr Phiroze Vasunia, University of Reading
Dr Sunil Amrith, Birkbeck College
Professor Barbara Harriss-White, University of Oxford
Mallarika Sinha Roy, University of Oxford
Dr Bishnupriya Gupta, University of Warwick
Swagato Sarkar, University of Oxford
Sunny Hundal, editor Asians in Media
Amitava Kumar, writer and author
Sidhant Bhagchandani, artist
Arun Kumar, Film director, Soma Films
Manish Tiwari
Caspar Melville, Editor, New Humanist magazine
Sajini Wijetilleka, Imperial College London
Dr Manav Ratti, University of Toronto
Faisal Gazi, Software Engineer, London
Dr Meeta Rani Jha, Goldsmiths College, University of London
Pauline Brown, magazine editor, London
Nitya Mohan, University of Cambridge
Parvinder Jutla, University of Arts London


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Please sign the petition by leaving a message below or emailing editor@asiansinmedia.org.