Congress slams Bikaner House over removal of protest photographs

The Congress party on Monday challenged Bikaner House's decision to remove a photography exhibition, claiming the state institution overstepped by invoking a blanket ban on political content. Party spokesperson Pawan Khera contended that photographs documenting public protests and civic movements form a legitimate record of democratic participation and should not face censorship based on their subject matter alone.

Bikaner House, a prominent cultural venue in New Delhi, had requested artist Raihan Vadra to remove 75 photographs from an exhibition, citing institutional policy against political content. The move has triggered a debate over the boundaries between art, documentation, and permissible expression in publicly funded spaces.

Khera's statement distinguished between the artistic merit of such work and what he termed the "politics behind" the decision to restrict it. By this argument, the controversy extends beyond the exhibition itself to questions about who decides what constitutes political art and whether state institutions should enforce such determinations.

The incident underscores ongoing tensions in India over freedom of expression and the role of government-funded cultural institutions. Civil society observers have raised concerns about the consistency and transparency of content policies at publicly managed venues, particularly when they impact documentary and journalistic work capturing social movements.