Ground is being prepared for renowned painter Maqbool Fida Husain, who has been living in self-imposed exile in London for the past four years, to return to India.
Indian officials plan to ask the Indian Supreme Court to expeditiously resolve several lawsuits accusing the artist of blaspheming Hindu gods.
Husain initially dismissed the overtures, arguing he was driven out not by the legal proceedings, but by physical threats after several of his exhibitions were attacked and paintings vandalized. "How will they protect me if they cannot protect my work? How can I trust them?.... They can, of course, promise me a bullet-proof car and the works. But, then, did Indira Gandhi or Rajiv Gandhi have any less security?"
He has been more receptive in recent statements, telling Zee TV, "If right now I get a call from Mr Chidambaram (Union Home Minister), I will take the first flight to India and congratulate him that the government has done really good."
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