Nana Chudasama, a former Mumbai Sheriff, rekindled the M F Husain controversy by putting up a banner at his famous Talk of the Town venue near Marine Drive recently.

The banner read 'Bharat Ratna for M F Husain and Sachin Tendulkar'. While Sachin's name was intact, some vandals blackened Husain's name.

Chudasama claims he had seen some boys trying to vandalise his banner two days ago. He said, "When I asked them why they were doing this they said, we are Hindustanis. When I said I was one too, they ran away."

Chudasama added, "Husain is an asset. We say we are a secular nation, so I think he should be allowed to return."

When asked why Husain did not paint Islamic gods in the same manner as he has done Hindu goddesses, Chudasama reacted, "That was an old Husain painting. Why rake up the issue now? If that's the case, we should object to Khajuraho too."