Nationality!!!!!!!

M.F. Hussain!!!!
I am truly amazed at the amount of hype our media is capable of creating for something as simple as a man choosing the country he wants to live in and hold citizenship.
M.F.Hussain, a famous painter of Indian origin (Can't call him an Indian anymore) accepted citizenship of Qatar. Having successfully managed to create controversies in India with his paintings, he was continiously hounded by people belonging to different factions for having hurt religious sentiments of some people.
At the age of 95, unwilling to be under attack for most of the time he spent here, he decided to accept the nationality of Qatar. End of matter.

Nopes. I only thought that was "End of matter". The crazy nation of a billion plus that we are, we needed the media to hype it and demands being made for him to be got back to India. If thats going overboard, it just gets better. A democratically elected representative of the people creates a scene in the parliament and attempts to pressurise the government to get Hussain back to India.

The only point I fail to understand is - WHY??????????????

1. Most renowned artists claim art has no country and no boundaries. So, for actual art lovers, how does it make a difference if the painting has been done by an Indian or Qatar national? Will the painting change? I would want to believe it if somebody said "yes" to that question. Haven't found anybody so far.

2. Ones Nationality is something which should automatically instill pride in the individual. Here we have an Individual who has no qualms about moving and being a "Qatari". I, for one, am very proud of my nationality - "Indian". The only change for the country is "A billion + 1" to "A billion +"

If for whatever reasons M.F.Hussain does not feel the pride about being an Indian, he should be allowed to choose the nationality that he wants. It's like how people constantly keep saying, "It happens only in India"!!


Kiran