Husain surrenders passport

Legendary painter M F Husain,who was recently granted citizenship by Qatar,has surrendered his Indian passport to the Indian embassy in Doha,Gulf Times reported Monday.

Legendary painter M F Husain,who was recently granted citizenship by Qatar,has surrendered his Indian passport to the Indian embassy in Doha,Gulf Times reported Monday. Husain,who was living in self-imposed exile following a spate of cases against him in India for painting Hindu goddesses in nude,will no longer be an Indian.

Husain,95,revered by many as Indias Picasso,went to the Indian Embassy in Doha on Sunday and surrendered his Indian passport. India does not recognise dual citizenship.So,in such a situation,surrendering passport by the person concerned is mandatory and Husain has only done that, the newspaper quoted an Indian Embassy official as saying.

Sources told the newspaper that Husain had applied for the Overseas Citizen of India OCI card and the embassy has facilitated all requirements for him to obtain the OCI card. The artist had a nearly two-hour meeting with Indian Ambassador Deepa Gopalan Wadhwa,the sources said.

After handing over the passport,Husain said though he was giving up Indian citizenship he would continue to be known as an Indian and that he was only proud about that. Citizenship and passport are a matter of a piece of paper. Accepting Qatari citizenship would not mean that I would cease to be an Indian or artist of India. Remaining an Indian would be my birthright and there are millions in India who still love me, Husain was quoted as saying by the Gulf edition of Malayalam daily Madhyamam. Art is universal and something that transcends all artificial boundaries. I am just a living being in the universe created by God. I will have a small patch of land on earth when I die. Where I am going to be buried on is not a problem that affects me.

Husain went in exile in 2006 after several cases were filed against him by people protesting his portrayal of Hindu goddesses in the nude. Fundamentalists even attacked his house and vandalised his art works.

Describing him as the pride of India,India had earlier said it was willing to provide security to Husain if he returned to the country. There is no case against M F Husain. The Supreme Court has quashed all the cases against him, Home Secretary G K Pillai said recently.