Opposition accuses govt of 'policing people's thoughts' over Palekar being interrupted at NGMA event

Two days after Amol Palekar had to cut short his speech at an NGMA event in Mumbai for being critical of the Ministry of Culture, opposition parties Sunday accused the NDA dispensation of "policing people's thoughts", even as the gallery's chief refuted the veteran actor-director's charge of artists' advisory panels being scrapped.

A video available on social media purportedly showed Palekar criticising the ministry at the opening of an exhibition in memory of artist Prabhakar Barwe on February 8 for reportedly scrapping the advisory panels of the National Gallery of Modern Art's (NGMA). While his speech remained incomplete due to interruptions, the full text has been circulating on social media for the last two days.

The veteran actor-director on Sunday said he was only trying to seek reasons behind the cancellation of retrospectives of two senior artists.

Palekar told reporters in Pune that the artists' advisory committee at NGMA, which is under the Ministry of Culture, had approved holding of retrospectives of three artists, of whom Prabhakar Barwe's work was inaugurated.

"But I came to know that without any communication to the committee, the next two retrospectives have been cancelled by Mumbai NGMA's new director Anita Rupavataram. I wanted to raise these issues. How and when these decisions were taken, we wanted to know," he said.

Retrospective is an exhibition or compilation showing the development of an artist's work over a period of time.

When contacted, NGMA Director-General Adwaita Gadanayak said the advisory committees of the gallery's Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi centres have not been dissolved.

"Their terms have ended recently and they are in the process of being reconstituted. For artists whose works were being showcased it was no less than a wedding. It is a big event in their lives. It was not the right platform for him (Palekar) to raise such issues," he told PTI.

"The recommendations of previous advisory committee will be honoured and exhibitions of artists will happen as proposed. The new advisory committee will take a decision relating to future exhibitions," Gadanayak said.

Asked if any action will be taken against those who interrupted Palekar's speech, he said, "We will do something."
His party colleague Abhishek Manu Singhvi, in a tweet, termed it an effort to silence dissent. ?
CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, wrote on Twitter, "The whole essence of our democracy, our constitutional rights, is the freedom to criticise the government and its leaders. No one is above criticism. This behaviour with Amol Palekar is undemocratic and highly condemnable."
Industrialist Anand Mahindra tweeted, "However inappropriate Palekar's comments were for the occasion, he wasn't a heckler, he was an invited speaker. The best way to prevent a controversy is for the Ministry of Culture to clarify that it welcomes constructive criticism and that Indian Culture celebrates free speech."
At the opening of the exhibition "Inside The Empty Box" in Mumbai on Friday, Palekar had said, "Many of you may not know that this retrospective will be the last show decided by the advisory committee of local artists and not by some bureaucrat or an agent of the government with an agenda of either moral policing or proliferation of certain art commensurate with an ideological incline."
At this point, an NGMA member on the stage interrupted, saying that Palekar should talk about the event. To this, Palekar responded, "I am going to talk about the same. Are you you applying censorship to that?"
Palekar was again interrupted by a woman, who said, "This is not needed at the moment, sorry...The function is about Prabhakar Barwe, please stick to that."