Cow dummy lands artist in trouble

Nothing can escape the intolerant brigade’s fury. Not even an attempt to draw attention towards the plight of cows. Close on the heels of the removal of renowned sculptor Anish Kapoor and some other prominent personalities for criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the governing body of Jawahar Kala Kendra, a local sculptor ran into trouble for creating awareness about polythene hazards by merely displaying a dummy of a dead cow.

The same people who were nowhere to be seen when nearly hundred cows died in Hingonia Goshala, a cow shelter run by Jaipur municipal corporation ruled by the BJP, came out to protest against Jaipur-based sculptor Siddharth Kararwal .

Mr Kararwal, participating in the third art summit at Jawahar Kala Kendra, floated a cow dummy in the air with the help of a blue colour balloon to draw people’s attention to the death of cows caused by consumption of polythene.

Some people found it insensitive and objected. Soon the news spread and members of religious outfits reached the venue. They raised slogans and demanded pulling down the sculpture. The artist and organisers tried to explain them the idea behind the display but to no avail.

They accused the artist and the organisers of hurting religious sentiments. Even members of animal rights organisation “Peoples for Animals” joined the protest, accusing the artist of being insensitive. There were hot talks between organisers and the protesters. The police was called to intervene, which asked the artist and organisers to remove the display, not paying heed to their explanation that they too were concerned about cows as they have been dying due to polythene and other dangerous articles used by human beings.