Mumbai: Politicians gang up to oust Dr Bhau Daji Lad museum chief

It was less than three weeks ago that the Dr Bhau Daji Lad museum in Byculla had received a rude shock when the Lakme Fashion Week grand finale had to be abruptly shifted elsewhere after alleged threats from an MNS leader It now looks as though political pressure may rock the boat yet again as the BMC yesterday unanimously cleared a proposal to unseat the museumrsquos current managementAlso readLakme Fashion Week finale shifted abruptly after MNS threatTasneem Zakaria Mehtamanaging trustee and honorary director Bhau Daji Lad museumSome said hosting a fashion event of an international scale could have boosted the museumrsquos popularity but an MNS member objected to it saying the museum was not supposed to host any commercial events The museumrsquos managing trustee and honorary director Tasneem Zakaria Mehta had said this was the political partyrsquos attempt at moral policing lsquoFashion week finale shifted abruptly after MNS threatrsquo midday March 23middayrsquos report on March 23 Now however all parties have united against Mehta and seem intent on removing her even putting her on six monthsrsquo notice on Friday Bringing up the fashion week controversy again and giving her party credit for stopping the show Mayor Snehal Ambekar who is also chairman of the museum trust said ldquoThey were holding a fashion show at the museum It was only after Shiv Sena protested that the show was called off Post that I asked for documents from the museumrsquos trust and there were irregularitiesrdquoCriticismThe Mayor wasnrsquot the only one to criticise the way the museum was being run Group leader of Samajwadi Party Rais Shaikh alleged ldquoTherersquos no book of accounts at the museum We arenrsquot apprised about meetings that are supposed to be held there on a monthly basisrdquoMNS group leader Sandeep Deshpande who presented the proposal to oust Mehta said she was autocratic in her approach and had made many political statements regarding the expansion of the museum Deshpande was referring to the time when the museum was to replace a playground with its new wing Amidst protests by the MNS Mehta had supported the plansldquoShe had said that people who were opposed to the the expansion of the museum do not understand what culture is What culture does she intend to show Our culture is Bharatnatyam Kuchipudi Lavni and Kathak this is what we should be showing to the foreigners not the culture that these people talk aboutrdquo said DeshpandeEven before the proposal came up in the house group leaders of all political parties met the Mayor and Municipal Commissioner Sitaram Kunte to discuss their gripes about Mehta and her style of running the museum Later the proposal was passed in the house within seconds without objection from any quarterldquoToday in the BMC we passed a proposal to revoke the agreement signed between the BMC Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation and Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage INTACH for 17 years starting January 2003rdquo said Dehspande adding ldquoHowever we gave them a notice period of six months because we didnrsquot want the museum to be left without any careIn these six months we will come up with rules and regulations so that we can either enter into another agreement for the museumrsquos management or it is possible that the BMC may take care of the museum itselfrdquoSena corporator Avkash Jadhav was of the opinion that the corporation could have lost control of the museumldquoThere is a need for a more proactive role by the Mayor and the corporation The BMC will appoint a professional who has done a museology course to run the museumrdquo he said adding that a committee would be set up under the Mayor to formulate guidelines for the future As of now the proposal is still pending commissioner Kuntersquos approval though corporators said he had already given them the green signal in advance