A large number of the dedicated Hindu Americans of the Washington, DC Metropolitan area gathered in front of the Embassy of India, and protested against the denigration of deities and Mother India (Bhaarata Maataa) by an Indian painter, Mr. Maqbul Fida Hussain.

This event was organized by Hindu American Women of Metro Washington, DC area and supported by many Hindu Organizations.

Mrs. Aruna Sharma, Mrs. Asha Chand who took the lead in organizing the event welcomed the supporters and representatives from the Hindu organizations participating in the rally. They emphasized the importance of women in Indian Culture, religion and ancient traditions. They declared that Hussain has stubbornly violated code of decency of the civilized world by repeatedly choosing to produce paintings of Hindu goddesses - Lakshmi, Saraswati, Durga and Mother India - in an indecent and abhorrent fashion - portraying them as virtually unclad. Mrs. Kamal Chopra was encouraging protesters with her inspiring slogans.

The main speakers at the protest rally were Mrs. Sonia Chopra (ISKCON), Vasanti Vittal and Asha Chand (Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America), Bhavna Shinde (Sanatan Sanstha), Dr. Satish Misra and the priests from Durga Temple. The speakers commented that peaceful and tolerant nature of Hindus should not be exploited and may not be taken for granted forever. They wondered if indeed nudity implied innocence as per the painter's claim. M.F. Hussain has chosen to depict only Hindu deities in the nude where as Hussain's mother, daughter and Prophet Mohammed's daughter Fatima are all painted fully dressed. They argued that the exhibiting of nude paintings of gods, goddesses and respected mothers is unacceptable in a civilized society.

Miss Neha, a pre-medical student, said that it is unbelievable that these kind of insensitive painters do exist in today's world. It is wondered that the "secular" Government of India had banned Salman Rushdie's book 'Satanic Verses' because it hurt the sentiments of the Moslem community whereas it remains silent when sentiments of Hindus are hurt.

Mrs. Sharma, Mrs. Chand, Mrs. Chopra and Mrs. Vittal presented the memorandum to Mr. Anil K. Gupta, Minister for Community Affairs, Embassy of India. The memorandum was signed by over 600 people demanding that Indian Government must denounce the actions of this painter and take away all the honors and awards given to this insane and insensitive man. Mr. Gupta assured the community that their message will be communicated to the honorable Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh.

The objectionable paintings created by the painter M.F. Hussain can be seen at http://www.sanatan.org/hussaincampaign/painting.php