India: An alleged derogatory Facebook post against Prophet Muhammad (Islam) has triggered violence in Bengaluru which left three dead and many injured. The Bengaluru police had arrested P. Naveen Kumar, accused of posting derogatory content in Facebook, the police also arrested at least 150 members of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) for inciting and participating in riots. As communal tensions are stirring up across Bengaluru, a picture of an objectionable painting of Lord Sri Krishna is going viral with a claim to punish the accused. Many social media users have shared the image comparing it to the incident that happened in Bengaluru and demanding the painter Akram Hussain to be arrested.
Deepak Chaurasia of News Nation has tweeted from his official handle said, “Akram Hussain, a painter from Assam, has exhibited an objectionable photograph of Lord Shri Krishna at the Ravindra Bhavan, the Guwahati Art Gallery. You all will remember the Bangalore incident .. Even then we are intolerant. !! Those who commit such slanderous acts are not forgiven”. (Archive)
असम का एक पेंटर है अकरम हुसैन उसने गुवाहाटी आर्ट गैलरी रविन्द्र भवन में भगवान श्रीकृष्ण की एक आपत्तिजनक तस्वीर का विमोचन किया है। आप सभी को बैंगलोर घटना याद ही होगा ..फिर भी हम असहिष्णु है.!!ऐसे निंदनीय कृत्य करने वाले क्षमा योग्य तो नहीं है। #AkramHussain #BangloreRiots #Hindu
— Deepak Chaurasia (@DChaurasia2312) August 17, 2020
Shefali Vaidya had questioned what Hindus should do about Akram’s objectionable painting referring to the Bengaluru incident. Archive
Bengaluru burned coz one Naveen allegedly posted a meme showing a ‘peaceful’ religious icon with an underage girl. No woke libt@rd said that was Naveen’s #FoE and he has a right to it. Akram Hussain fm Assam paints Shri Krishna with half-naked women, what should the Hindus do?
— Shefali Vaidya. (@ShefVaidya) August 17, 2020
Arun Pudur, a self-claimed activist to end Hinduphobia, shared the image, questioning if Akram will be arrested for this. (Archive)
Akram Hussain, an Assam based Muslim ’Artist’ depicts Lord Krishna with Bikini Girls & this piece has been displayed in Gawhati Art Gallery.#BangaloreRiots for a FB comment. Praveen who expressed his FOE was arrested for hurting sentiments
Will Akram be arrested for this? pic.twitter.com/3GYl8S9thE
— Arun Pudur ( अरूण् पुदुर् ) (@arunpudur) August 17, 2020
Sadhavi Khosla tweeted about this with caption, “One objectionable post on Prophet (which was in response to objectionable comments on Lord Ram)-they burnt a part of Bangalore. And here a Muslim painter paints Lord Krishna in a highly objectionable manner. Will this be counted as blasphemy?Or that’s only for One sect?” (Archive)
One objectionable post on Prophet (which was in response to objectionable comments on Lord Ram)-they burnt a part of Bangalore. And here a Muslim painter paints Lord Krishna in a highly objectionable manner. Will this be counted as blasphemy?Or that’s only for One sect? @HMOIndia https://t.co/wojFCZCwvm
— Sadhavi Khosla🇮🇳 (@sadhavi) August 17, 2020
Hundreds od another such claim can be found under #AkramHussian
FactO Check:
According to an article from ZEE News, the painting now going viral is from 2015. Assam based painter Akram Hussain had displayed two painting at an exhibition at Assam state art gallery on April 8, 2015. In one of the two paintings, Lord Sri Krishna was shown with semi-nude modern girls with liquor bottles in the background. A simple reverse image search had directed us to a couple of articles and tweets of Dainik Bhaskar from 2015.
पेंटर अकरम हुसैन पर FIR: बार में कृष्ण, साथ में दिखाई थीं बिकिनी पहनी गोपियां…http://t.co/jFvUzPZsKt pic.twitter.com/yrXyAX648H
— Dainik Bhaskar (@DainikBhaskar) April 11, 2015
The Guwahati police had registered a case against Akram Hussain and arrested him. The controversial painting was seized, today after that paining went viral Guhati Police has made a clarification tweet, “Pls refer to info shared by concerned citizens regarding an objectionable painting of Lord Shri Krishna. This incident is of 2015. Accordingly, Latasil PS Case No. 127/15 was registered, accused Akram Hussain arrested on 30/5/2015 & painting seized. It is not on display now.”
Pls refer to info shared by concerned citizens regarding an objectionable painting of Lord Shri Krishna. This incident is of 2015. Accordingly, Latasil PS Case No. 127/15 was registered, accused Akram Hussain arrested on 30/5/2015 & painting seized. It is not on display now.
— Guwahati Police (@GuwahatiPol) August 17, 2020
Conclusion: It is evident that the painting is from 2015 and the accused Akram Hussain was already booked and arrested. The painting is now seized and not displayed anymore. Deepak Chaurasia, Shefali Vaidya and others are sharing old news and linking it to the Bengaluru incident only to mislead people and spread communal propaganda. We request social media users to verify the news before sharing.