Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac sprang a surprise when he picked an unconventional cover image - a heart-rending painting of bullet-ridden Mahatma in his last moments - for the 2020 budget.
The image appears to have selected to send out a strong political message to the Narendra Modi government, which brought in the Citizenship Amendment Act.
“I present this budget at a time when our nation faces unusual challenges. Democracy is threatened by an autocratic regime in our country,” he said, in an apparent reference to the protests against the CAA, before beginning his budget speech.
Isaac said CAA is posing a threat to the basic credentials of the Constitution and the country was witnessing the biggest protests ever in the post-Independence era.
“Students and women are at the forefront of the anti-CAA agitations and the hope of the country lies in the youth who hit the streets vowing they would not let the country down,” he said.
Artist Tom Vattakuzhy, who hails from Muvattupuzha in Kerala, painted Death of Gandhi sometime in July last year. He said Isaac would have used the picture as an expression of his interest in art. He said his permission was sought before using the painting on the budget cover.
It was done on canson paper using gouache colour. He said the work of art was a response to the post-truth age where history is misconstrued regularly.
“History painting is not a genre that has been explored much in India. It could be because we had never felt the necessity of the genre,” he said.
Death of Gandhi was widely shared on social media, especially on the Martyr's Day (Mahatma Gandhi's death anniversary) on January 30. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and CPI's Kanhaiya Kumar were among those who shared the picture, though without due credit to the artist.
“I believe that the painting was shared widely because Gandhi still lives in the hearts of many. The acceptance it got reflects the respect people have for Gandhi,” he said. Vattakuzhy, however, said the use of the image without due credit reflected the people's lack of a visual literacy.
Vattakuzhy studied art from Visva-Bharati University in Santiniketan, Kolkata, and MS University in Baroda. He has worked as a faculty in various art colleges.
Deigo's Flower Vendor
The love affair of the finance minister with symbolic images does not end here. The cover for budget brief of the Kerala budget was a painting by the 20th century Mexican painter Diego Rivera. The painting known as 'The Flower Vendor' displays a woman helping her husband, a flower vendor to gather a bouquet of flowers for sale in the market. While the woman stands tall, embracing the beauty of the flowers while engaging in the sale of the blossoms, the peasant fails to admire the flowers while struggling on all fours.
The Kerala government's renewed focus on women empowerment in the budget is perhaps, the reason for using this symbolic picture as the cover image.
'My mother and neighbouring mothers'
The painting on the cover of the Gender Budget Analysis Report was done by 14 year-old Anujath Sidhu from Thrissur. The Mughal-style painting is a spectacular work, which showcases nightie-clad women engaged in several household chores.
“The fact that Anujath took effort to portray the unseen contributions of women to Kerala's economy touched my heart,” Finance Minister Thomas Isaac said, during his budget speech.
He added that Kudumbashree was an avenue to bring women to the limelight.
A few days after his mother's death, Anujath, had won an international award in a competition held by Shankar’s Academy of Art and Book Publishing.
Isaac also highlighted the efforts of the government in improving the marketing of Kudumbasree products and the rise in the number of poultry units under Kudumbasree. Some other initiatives include handicraft sale, construction activities, multi-task teams and event management teams.
