Jehangir Gallery’s secretary, K. G. Menon, admitted that while there are no censorship rules in place in the gallery, certain nude representations are off limits. “We had an instance with a nude sculpture last year, and because the artists wouldn’t comply with the police to uninstall it, the matter was dragged to the high court,” said Menon. “To prevent such extreme scenarios I personally requested Das to comply with the Samiti’s demands.”
The demands by the right-wing group, which has previously objected to the work of controversial Indian artist M. F. Husain, included signing a declaration in Marathi, which Das said he “couldn’t fathom.” Das was also “heavily warned not to reinstall any of the five paintings.”
Menon further disclosed that since the nude sculpture incident, two policemen have also been assigned to survey galleries in the Colaba neighborhood to check for potentially controversial artwork.
