"Political Messaging": Bikaner House On Why Photos By Priyanka Gandhi's Son Were Taken Down

A day after Raihan Vadra, son of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, alleged that the management of the Rajasthan government-run Bikaner House in Delhi made him take down most of the photographs in his exhibition hours before the show opened on Wednesday evening, the venue officials have responded.

Bikaner House has said that the exhibitions at the venue focus on wildlife and culture, and pointed out that Raihan Vadra's photographs did not fall in either category. They added that the photographs were asked to be taken down as they carried political messaging.

"Exhibitions hosted at the venue are meant to focus on culture and wildlife. Raihan Vadra has held exhibitions at Bikaner House on several occasions in the past. However, this time, the photographs that were asked to be taken down did not fall under either category and instead carried political messaging," Bikaner House officials told NDTV.

Raihan Vadra's exhibition titled 'No Idea Is Final' documents the recent protests in the national capital. "The photographs were of youth protests in Delhi. Apparently the content is 'objectionable'," Raihan Vadra wrote on Instagram.

Vadra said that he was asked to remove 75 of the 105 photographs from the show or face cancellation. These included two featuring the Tiranga (tricolour) or national flag. He initially refused to take those two down, in particular. Bikaner House staff eventually took down one of those two photos when he stepped out of the venue, Raihan told NDTV. 

In all, 74 photos were removed.

Priyanka Gandhi called the Bikaner House's move "ridiculous".

"What do you think? He is a young boy, but I suppose you know, they are muzzling the voice of the youth across the nation. So it's only expected that they'll do it to anyone. His photographs of the protests, not a single commentary, not a single thing that was either derogatory towards anyone, just a visual documentation of the protest. So, I mean, clearly this is the way they think. It's not a democracy anymore. Today it's him, tomorrow it'll be another artist," she said.

In an Instagram post, she said, "When someone with power becomes afraid of the expression of another, he doesn't know it, but he has already lost the very power he is trying to protect."

"You stand for what is true and everything beautiful will find its way to you. I am proud of you, always will be," she told Raihan.