File photo of British-Indian sculptor Anish Kapoor.
A new cultural panel in Rajasthan has been dropped days after one of its members, noted sculptor Anish Kapoor, criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an article titled "India is ruled by a Hindu Taliban."
It was on Monday that the BJP government announced a panel of 12 advisers, including Anish Kapoor, educationist Homi K Bhabha and writer Jeet Thayil for Jaipur's Jawahar Kala Kendra.
Two days on, the panel stands scrapped. The move came after Rajasthan Tourism Minister Krishnendra Kaur was asked by reporters on Anish Kapoor's searing critique of the Modi government during the prime minister's visit to London last week.
Ms Kaur, a member of the ruling BJP, has been quoted by the Press Trust of India as saying that she was not aware of the panel and had never been consulted. "The nomination of all 12 members has been canceled last night. I had no idea of the nomination earlier," Ms Kaur reportedly said.
In an opinion piece published in The Guardian on the day PM Modi arrived in London, Mr Kapoor raised the intolerance debate in India raised by writers, artists and filmmakers who have returned their national awards in protest against incidents like the murder of rationalists and mob killings over beef rumours. "Narendra Modi is clamping down on tolerance and freedom of expression," the artist said.
"Of late, Modi's regime has effectively tolerated - if not encouraged - a saffron-clad army of Hindu activists who monitor and violently discipline those suspected of eating beef, disobeying caste rules or betraying the 'Hindu nation'."
Mr Kapoor also wrote that a "Hindu version of the Taliban is reasserting itself, in which Indians are being told: It's either this view - or else."
The artist said he would join protesters at London's Downing Street. "Following the lead of India's opposition groups, we have a duty to speak out for the people Modi is trying to silence, precisely because we are free to do so," he wrote.