Madhuri Bhaduripainter An artiste has the freedom to express and it is difficult to put a limit to this freedom. The expressions of an artiste are reflections of the society and it goes without saying that a disturbed artiste will portray the world with his philosophy. Hussain surrendering the Indian passport,I believe,is a representation of the fact that the creative freedom of artistes in our country is hampered. Dhananjay Daithankarveteran Santoor playerWhile I believe that nothing should stop one from expressing his true feelings,the responsibility of an artiste is not just limited to the freedom of expression. The fact that an artiste wants people to come and see his art means that audience are irreplaceable part of any form of art. And thus,it is the responsibility of an artiste to value the emotions of the society he or she is catering to. Creativity is fine,but undue and uncontrolled advantage of one's creative freedom is not justified and that I believe is the reason behind this phenomenon. Ashwini WaikarpainterEven artistes are audience. Irrespective of whether a message is positive or negative,the portrayal of the message has to be done in a positive manner. While the masses should be able to learn from it,the responsibility of the artiste is that he should not play with the emotions of the audience. Also,every artiste has an idea of what kind of reactions his art would generate and thus,a deep thought is important before portraying anything that is linked with people's faith. Objections raised against controversial paintings are not always baseless. Ajay Decharcoal painterWe call ourselves the biggest democracy in the world,but unfortunately,the freedom of expression in our country is limited only to a group of people who are politically well connected. I feel that M F Hussain is justified in his action. I love my country but such a phenomenon is a result of violation of the principles our constitution preaches. Dipti DesaipainterArt should not be politicised. Even sculptures of Khajuraho are an irreplaceable part of our culture. When a country tries to put limitations on an artiste's creativity,the outcome is like this one. We have lost a good artiste and a brand ambassador of our country.
