Raihan Vadra photo row begs question: Who gets to censor art?

Congress leaders have criticised the removal of photographs documenting protests from an exhibition by photographer Raihan Vadra at Bikaner House in New Delhi, with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accusing those in power of attempting to silence young people.

Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot calling the move an attack on democracy.

Priyanka, Raihan’s mother and a Congress MP, described the decision as “ridiculous” and said it amounted to muzzling the voices of young people.

“It’s not a democracy anymore,” she said, reacting to the removal of the photographs from the exhibition titled No Idea is Final.

In a post on X, Priyanka wrote: “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.”

She added: “You stand for what is true and everything beautiful will find its way to you. I am proud of you, always will be.”

Raihan’s father, businessman Robert Vadra, also backed his son and shared his account of the incident, criticising the last-minute intervention.

Gehlot targeted the BJP government in Rajasthan, pointing out that Bikaner House is a property of the state government. He described the removal as censorship and “a direct attack on democracy”, and asked the state government to explain why the photographs had been taken down.