Loneliness of the long denied artist

The trial is yet to see its first hearing. The case was admitted in 2009 after the Sayajigunj police filed its chargesheet. The trial, officially begun in July 2016, has been transferred thrice among local courtrooms, judges have been transferred and dates advanced. The next hearing is slated for March 30.

The complaint was filed by Niraj Jain, then a VHP leader, who was seen assaulting Chandramohan in the Faculty of Fine Arts on May 9, 2007. Jain, 50, has since launched the Hindu Jagran Manch. He does not hold the university faculty responsible for the artwork in that exhibition, primarily an examination but open to public. “Frankly, I haven’t kept track of the case status, but my complaint was against the student as the university fact-finding report blamed him for the insulting work,” Jain tells The Indian Express. “The exhibition was advertised as a public one and not as an examination. The complaint is based on MSU’s report.”

Chandramohan was arrested on May 24, 2007, and his bail surety paid by a colleague. MSU officials say they cannot trace the files pertaining to the inquiry and its status, based on which the syndicate committee passed a resolution to withhold his evaluation result and thereby his Masters degree in Visual Arts. Coming from a family of farmers from Madanapalle in Andhra Pradesh, Chandramohan was the first in the family of farmers to seek an education, says Shivaji Panikkar, former Fine Arts Faculty acting dean who was suspended in 2007 for standing up for Chandramohan. MSU did not file a complaint against the storming of the premises and the assault.

On February 2, neighbours had seen Chandramohan chatting with his landlord at Surabhi Bungalows in Chhani area, then leaving. In the evening, on local TV, they saw their “private but friendly” neighbour being dragged by police on the MSU campus, with smoke billowing from the building. Booked for attempted murder, arson and damaging property, Chandramohan is in judicial custody.

“He had told us about how not having a degree has destroyed his dreams as an artist. Just imagine his frame of mind when you study hard and the degree certificate is held back for controversial reasons,” says Chaggan Rathod, a neighbour. Rathod’s wife says Chandramohan moved in three years ago. “He is a quiet person. When he paints, he is so engrossed that he has ended up disfiguring his spine… In the last three years, no one from his family has come to visit him.”

Former colleagues remember Chandramohan as “bright” yet “lonely”. A classmate who requests anonymity says, “Chandramohan never got involved with anyone at a personal level. I cannot really say that he made friends during the course… As artists, you do not want to get dragged into a controversy.. He was a promising artist.” The batchmate feels the two paintings that led to controversy were a “perspective of art”, but sone at a wrong time in the wrong place.

Professor Panikkar, the acting dean who was suspended after the university found him guilty of exhibiting “vulgar” paintings, says: “What happened 11 years ago has changed the course of his life. The university decided to withhold his degree, he could not apply for a scholarship, jobs or make his life as an artist. Can you imagine his frustration?” Pannikar claims the displays had been approved by Chandramohan’s teachers. “I, as an acting dean, had nothing to do with his paintings,” he says. “He last spoke to me in December, said he is going through tough times financially… No galleries are willing to showcase his works although I have also recommended him to some places. His act of Friday is surprising but it shows the state of mind he was in,” he says.

Just before his arrest, Chandramohan said he was “tired” of petitioning the university to release his degree. Carrying a bottle of petrol and a weapon, he set fire to the office after being told the vice chancellor was not available.

Vice chancellor Parimal Vyas says the university is trying to get the details of the inquiry against Chandramohan. “What happened [in 2007] was unfortunate as those involved in the exhibition, the Fine Arts Faculty and the university, should have collectively resolved this issue. We feel sad that the consequence has been that a former student has turned to crime,” Vyas says. “Having said that, his act of recent violence cannot be pardoned and we will not allow any one to tarnish the image of the university… He may have visited my office on a couple of occasions when I was away, but he could have waited for one meeting to discuss the issue. This act will certainly go against him before university committees.”

One professor from the university, who does not wish to be named, sounds a note of sympathy. “It is sad that instead of moulding the life of a student, the university has done what it strives to stand against — pushing youth to darkness. Chandramohan is an alumnus of Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, one of the finest in fine arts,” the professor says. A 2004 Bachelor of Fine Arts from JNTU in Hyderabad, Chandramohan has got important national and international awards for his work, including the Lalit Kala Akademi National Exhibition award in 2006.