New Delhi: Several photographs documenting recent protests and youth movements were removed from a solo exhibition by artist and photographer Raihan Vadra at the government-run Bikaner House, triggering a row that drew in the Congress leadership.
Vadra, son of Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, said on social media on Wednesday that the Bikaner House management had removed the images and threatened to cancel his exhibition, "No Idea is Final", unless they were taken down. Around 74 protest-related photographs were removed, according to reports. "The photos were of the youth protests in Delhi," Vadra said. "Apparently the content is objectionable."
The Bikaner House Management Society said "certain photographs" from the exhibition were not in line with the centre's policies, without elaborating. Rajasthan, which runs Bikaner House, is governed by the BJP.
Priyanka Gandhi backed her son, condemning what she called the muzzling of young artists' voices. She said that when those in power fear self-expression, they have already lost the power they seek to protect. The Congress and the INDIA bloc rallied behind Vadra, while the BJP accused the party of a "regime change plot", citing a media report on alleged links between riots in France and recent protests in India, and called Rahul Gandhi a "gaddar".
The controversy unfolded against the backdrop of a protest movement pressing for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over a revision of voter lists. Two leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, at the forefront of those protests, were released from Tihar Jail on Wednesday after a Special Executive Magistrate declined a police request to extend their custody by three days. They furnished personal bonds and sureties of Rs 50,000 each.
The two had been booked for trespassing after entering the Jantar Mantar protest site and raising the national flag, following the site's denotification by Delhi Police. The Delhi Police Crime Branch then summoned them, along with CJP member Ajinkya Shinde, for questioning. The three did not appear on Thursday and sought more time.
Meanwhile, AISA president Neha Bora told the Delhi High Court that she does not need permission to hoist the national flag, challenging a police notice directing her to execute a "peace" bond. The court is to pronounce its order on her plea.