New Delhi: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday supported her son, photographer Raihan Vadra, after many of his photographs were removed from his exhibition at Bikaner House in Delhi. She also took an indirect swipe at the government over the issue.
In a post on X, she tagged Raihan and wrote, “When someone with power becomes afraid of the expression of another, he doesn’t know it, but he has already lost the very power he is trying to protect.”
She also told her son, “You stand for what is true and everything beautiful will find its way to you. I am proud of you, always will be.”
Raihan, son of Priyanka Gandhi and Robert Vadra, said on Wednesday that the Bikaner House management removed many of his photographs of recent protests in Delhi. The photographs were taken down just before his solo exhibition ‘No Idea is Final’ was previewed. The exhibition was to open on Thursday.
Raihan said he was told at 3.30 pm that the photographs had to be removed by 5 pm, or the exhibition would be cancelled. He said he had already shared the full plan and layout of the show with the Bikaner House management much earlier, as reported by The Indian Express.
About 74 photographs were removed. Two large rooms on the first floor of Bikaner House’s CCA building were left almost empty.
Raihan said the photographs did not give any political message. He said they only showed protests in Delhi over the last six months. He also said the management removed a photograph of the Indian flag.
“They told us at 3.30 pm today if the images are not taken down by 5 pm, the show will be cancelled. They said it is not the right time for such photos to be shown,” Raihan told PTI.
‘All Art Is Political’
He said the Bikaner House management told him that, because of the current political situation in India, it was not the right time to display such images.
“So I made the argument that first of all, you can’t say don’t show political art because all art is political. There is no art without politics,” he said.
“I felt it is my duty as an Indian artist, not just because I am doing a show right now, but it is my duty as an Indian artist to document what is going on… They are censoring the work of artists, I don’t know what they are scared of. They even went to the extent of removing the picture of the Indian flag,” he added.
Priyanka called the removal of the photographs ridiculous. She said it was an attempt to silence young people across the country.
“Today it’s him, tomorrow it’ll be another artist,” she told PTI.
When asked why the photographs were removed, a Bikaner House official said they were not authorised to comment.