[intro]The Government of India Is Working to Bring the Country’s Most Celebrated Artist Home from Exile[/intro]

AsiaOne News puts together a compilation of different press stories on the campaign to bring 94-year-old M. F. Husain back to India to be sure he doesn’t die in exile:

“I crave to come back. After all, how can anyone forget the lap of the mother that nurtured them? I hope the powers that be allow India to be my final resting place, whenever that happens. But I am not bitter. It is the ignorance of the learned that has put me in this situation,” he told The Times Of India recently.

In another interview, he told the Indian Express: “I’m dying to come back but the decision is not in my hands. It is up to the state, government and law.”

The powers that be are said to be paving the way for his return. It was reported widely in the media that the central government plans to approach the Supreme Court and request that all pending cases be speeded up.

A home ministry official was quoted as saying that the government had taken an in-principle decision that the harassment Husain has been facing should end and was exploring ways in which this condition could be achieved.

“We have set a target of December- end,” said the official who did not want to be identified. Husain was delighted to hear this bit of news.

“If right now I get a call from Mr Chidambaram (home minister), I will take the first flight to India and congratulate him that the government has done really good,” he told the Press Trust of India in a phone call from Dubai. Soon after the controversy erupted in 2006, Husain publicly apologised for his painting and promised to withdraw it from a charity auction, but extremist elements were not satisfied. The government had been silent till now and very few voices were heard supporting Husain.

Husain Wants to Go Home (AsiaOneNews)