Fact Check: Derogatory painting of Lord Krishna was removed from Guwahati gallery 5YO

Hyderabad: A derogatory painting of Lord Krishna with bikini-clad women has gone viral on social media. It is being claimed that the painting has been drawn by a Muslim artist and displayed at Guwahati Art Gallery.

Netizens are demanding action against the painter and immediate removal of the painting from the gallery.

"Akram Hussain, an Assam based Muslim 'Artist' depicts Lord Krishna with Bikini Girls and this piece has been displayed in Guwahati Art Gallery. #BangaloreRiots for a FB comment. Praveen who expressed his FOE was arrested for hurting sentiments Will Akram be arrested for this?" read one such post on Twitter.

"Akram Hussain, a painter from Assam, has released an objectionable picture of the Hindu Lord Arya Krishna at Guwahati Art Gallery, Ravindra Bhavan. Chief Minister @himantabiswa is requested to take strict action?" tweeted another user.

Archived links can be found here and here.

Fact Check:

We found the viral claim is misleading. This is a five-year-old incident.

When searched with appropriate keywords we came across news reports by One India and Indian Express published in the year 2015.

According to The Indian Express report, an FIR was lodged by Hindu Jagaran Mancha against the artist Akram Hussain in April 2015. "The artist has, however, immediately removed the painting and has apologized," Guwahati Police DCP Amitabh Sinha was quoted by the newspaper.

Taking cognizance of viral claims, Guwahati police also tweeted that the artist was arrested on May 30, 2015.

Hence it is proved that the viral claim of the painting being displayed at the Guwahati Art gallery is misleading. This is a five-year-old incident where the artist was arrested for his derogatory painting and the picture was immediately removed from the gallery.