NEW DELHI: The removal of photographs depicting SIR-related protests from Raihan Vadra’s solo exhibition at Bikaner House by the venue’s management has snowballed into a political controversy. While the BJP claims that the issue brought to light “a rift between the Gandhi siblings” with no comment from Rahul Gandhi on the matter, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor called it a “global embarrassment”.
Visiting the venue on Friday, Tharoor expressed disappointment over the photographs being taken down and said, “Bikaner House is supposed to be a place of art and culture.” He argued that visitors came to appreciate the artist’s perspective rather than engage in political agitation.
“To see all those blank, empty walls was really, really sad,” Tharoor said, as the artist gave him a tour of the hall. He added, “I thought, what have we reduced ourselves to?”
Tharoor also argued that photographs documenting protests were depictions of events rather than political statements in themselves. He said the episode had raised concerns about freedom of expression and India’s international reputation as a democracy.
Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari posting screenshots on social media of an email dated June 10 and acceptance by Bikaner House on June 30, claimed the proposal focused on nature, wildlife, artwork and sculpture. Bhandari alleged that political photographs were added later and that the venue had sought their removal.
He accused Congress leaders of manufacturing a controversy for political purposes and alleged tensions between Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi. Bhandari said, “Rahul who is in Vietnam, is tweeting on every issue under the sun and has till now not openly done a single tweet in favour of Raihan. It’s Priyanka vs Rahul in Congress!”