Art under fire - The Hindu

There was a time when the term slash and burn brought to mind a form of shifting cultivation practised from ancient times. In the past two decades, with the ascendance of majoritarian politics in India, the term has exemplified a trajectory of political opportunism characterised by a virulent aesthetic of violence in public space — especially in the cultural terrain.

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Most recently we saw Shiv Sainiks foam at the mouth in an attempt to stop the release of Shah Rukh Khan's film “My name is Khan” for his ‘anti-national' statement ruing the omission of Pak cricketers for the current IPL season (and blast the effrontery of the punchline, ‘My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist). Some months ago, the MNS successfully extracted an apology from film producer Karan Johar for the ‘insult' caused to Marathi manoos pride in the film “Wake Up Sid” by the mere mention of Mumbai as Bombay. Charring canvases, vandalising artistic spaces and institutions of excellence, disrupting film and theatre performances or targeting individual artistes is part of the energetic occupational description. And just as an artist, filmmaker or writer can get inspiration from any source, these practitioners have the felicity of claiming any artistic act as being injurious enough to a particular identity, ‘tradition', gaurav (pride) or asmita to warrant mob action in its demand for apologies, amendments to the creative work or straight bans.

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