The Chandramohan Controversy at MSU

A controversy emerges from an exhibition put up by the graduating Master of Fine Arts (MFA) class of the year at the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Maharaja Sayajirao University (MSU), Vadodara, centering on the work by participating student Srilamanthula Chandramohan. The Methodist Church in Vadodara objects to Chandramohan’s depiction of a nude image of Jesus Christ with bodily fluids flowing out with a commode underneath, and members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad take offence to the artist’s print of the goddess Durga birthing a man while impaling him. With little consideration for artistic licence in a country susceptible to censorship and legal action on account of religious and political pressure, the episode escalates into a national controversy and sees police officers clash with students and teachers in the Faculty of Fine Arts, the suspension of the Acting Dean, Shivaji Panikkar, who refuses to close the exhibit, and brief arrests of students and staff, including Chandramohan. 

A criminal case is subsequently filed against Chandramohan for his participation in the events that follow the exhibition, but no specific charge is brought against him. As a result of the lack of a hearing, he is not issued a formal degree or other proof of graduation. The Faculty of Fine Arts also suffers a major setback as several grants and projects that are in the process of being finalised at the time of the controversy are frozen, and a more rigid system of administration and staff appointment is put into place, making it difficult for professors to gain advancements.