Chennai's Loyola College apologises after facing right-wing ire over art exhibition; 'paintings malign PM, nation,' alleges BJP

Chennai’s Loyola College on Monday apologised for a controversial art exhibition on its premises, that the BJP and other parties of the right wing alleged was an attempt to malign Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the nation. The college has said that the venue was “misused” by those who held the Vithi Virudhu Vizha cultural event on 19 and 20 January. The paintings of the exhibition, the college announced in a press release, were “immediately removed” as soon as the matter was brought to the notice of the institution’s authorities.

Shocked by the vulgarity of the presentation..it is not just anti Hindu but antI National. Loyola and the church can either apologise or feel proud to be part of the liberal and anti Hindu gang that hates Hinduism & India for being a majority Hindu nationhttps://t.co/4qXQDRsUJ1

— S Gurumurthy (@sgurumurthy) January 21, 2019

BJP national secretary H Raja, the party’s Tamil Nadu president Tamilisai Soundararajan, along with the religious organisation Hindu Munnani, had all insisted that the police take immediate steps in this regard. Raja, after taking to Twitter to appeal to “Hindu patriots” to assemble at the Director-General of Police’s office, led a delegation that formally lodged a police complaint against the College on Tuesday,  reported Mirror Now. One of the paintings, titled Rafale Deal, shows the petals of the lotus (the BJP’s election symbol) as rats. Another shows the feet of a woman shackled by chains which bear the RSS’s name. Times Now reported the college as having said that it was not sure as to who exactly had drawn which of the pictures, while Mirror Now held that the paintings corresponded to an overarching MeToo theme. BJP state president Tilasis Soundararajan said the representation of “women, trident, and the Bharat Mata” in the paintings was derogatory and that the Tamil Nadu House had to answer for the art exhibition at the college, reported News7. “If the Loyola College fails to address the issue, then the BJP will take it up for the people,” she said.