The top-ranked Loyola College has issued an apology following a row over some paintings at an expo on its campus, which the BJP and other saffron outfits termed as desecration of Hindu symbols.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and some pro-Hindu organisations on Monday strongly objected to the paintings which they said “had portrayed the trishul, a symbol of Hinduism, and ‘Bharat Mata’, in an inappropriate manner.” They also argued that depicted Prime Minister Narendra Modi in bad light.
The paintings were part of the two-day event Veethi Virudhu Vizha held on January 19 and 20. Following the outrage, the college on Monday issued the apology and said it respected all religions and that offensive paintings, put up as part of a cultural event, were “immediately” removed. “We do not advocate or support anything that is tantamount to disturbing the peace and tranquility of the society,” the college, an autonomous Catholic minority institution, said in a statement on Monday.
A statement from the college’s Art and Literary Unit Coordinator, Kaleeswaran said that the offensive exhibits were removed the moment it was brought to their notice. “We acknowledge our lapse and sincerely apologise for the insurmountable hurt this has caused,” he said.
While one of the exhibits featured the trishul in a painting related to violence against women, another suggested that Modi was a hegemonic and also likened him to a Hindu deity.
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